LEGEND
by Sqydd
Summary: Eleven years ago, Deoxys completely leveled Pallet Town, causing hundreds of casualties, and even more were created as Giovanni's son, Silver, invades the Legendaries' dimension and quickly kills them. Mew survives, having been outside of the dimension at the time, and saving a young boy from the destruction comes back to haunt it.
1. 01 Prelude To Devastation

The boy was at it again, it thought. Mew dared to move closer, absently shifting to a Spearow and perching on the eaves of a nearby home. He was racing down the dirt pathway that led straight through Pallet Town, breath wild enough to match his rapid heart that matched his feet whipping down the road. Behind him, the same three boys followed but at a much slower pace, shouting and screaming words it barely understood as human profanities.

Mew didn't know when it started, but one day it saw the little three-year-old sitting at the shore, stacks of books half-buried in the sand next to him. It was somewhat interesting how he such a young child reading several books with over eight hundred pages each day, but it was more interesting that unlike every other human it had ever encountered, this boy repelled its Psychic advances. It was unable to probe his mind for even the most fundamental information, and that was a source of interest for the ancient Pokémon. Never in its life had it found a human able to resist its Psychic powers, and it piqued its interest until it almost choked on it. Since that day it had taken up watching the boy, trying to discover what exactly made him so special.

Adults looked on from their daily duties and shouted at the boys but their pleas went unnoticed. Pokémon attempted to step in, only to be fought back by the boys' Raichu and Geodude. That left the poor little boy on his own as he attempted to outrun the older ones while carrying two large volumes and faced with a muddy terrain against his bare feet and their shoes, "sneakers" as the humans called them. It fidgeted on the house, edging towards him as he grew closer and closer. No, it thought, flitting away from the edge. Interfering with the humans is forbidden. I cannot—

"Zach! Allan! Corner him!" the tallest boy yelled at the others. They pushed the little one to the shore, circling him until he was a footstep away from plunging into the ocean's cool blue waters. That's Suicune's domain, Mew thought, spreading its wings to glide over. It set again in a tree that loomed over the water's surface, watching the tallest boy as he cracked his knuckles while approaching the little boy. Perhaps Suicune could aid him— It interrupted its own thought, already aware that Suicune would simply repeat the rules of the Legendaries to it. He was on his own.

"Get him, Joey," Allan, a short eight-year-old with short brown hair, smirked as he grabbed the boy's right arm. Zach, a slightly older and slightly taller redhead, took hold of the boy's left arm, the two of them holding him in place as their unofficial leader, Joseph, readied himself to attack the little one. Penetrating his superficial thoughts yielded results no better than his anger at having to visit his wayward uncle in Pallet Town and a cartoon called _Fairly Odd Primeape_ coming on at 8 P.M., and as soon as it tried to dig deeper Joseph's face twisted in mild discomfort. Further prodding would only alert him to its presence, which was completely against Arceus' wishes for them to remain unobtrusive.

The first punch was rather quick, leaving not even an echo to prove its existence. If the boy's head hadn't snapped to the side, in fact, Mew doubted it would've known he had been punched at all. The second one was slower and the hard _thump_ of bone on bone was obvious in the air as he moaned softly, blood trickling out from the corner of his mouth. The others and their Pokémon laughed as the boy was pitilessly thrashed, his books burned via Thunderbolt and tossed into the water.

Mew finally couldn't take it anymore; disregarding Arceus' rules, it leapt into the air, taking the form of a more fear-provoking Arcanine as it hit the ground, growling and snarling at the boy's opponents. They shouted and the main one Joseph yelled at the Raichu to use Volt Tackle. Mew met his eyes as he began the attack.

 _You should leave,_ it threatened telepathically.

"Why the hell should I?" he scoffed, rolling his eyes. Mew took a step forward, causing him to step back.

 _If you do not, you will have an angry Legendary Pokémon to deal with._ It released its transformation for a moment, a mere inhale of breath, but that was enough time for the Raichu to squeak and tumble over the Geodude in his rush to scamper away. Mew barked at the three boys; they gave unmanly screams as they followed Raichu. In the end, Geodude was the only one remaining. _I suggest you go with your Trainers,_ Mew said calmly, sitting down.

"No," he replied heavily. Mew inclined its head.

 _Not the smartest boulder of the bunch, are you?_

"No," he repeated.

Mew slowly revolved to face the boy. He had fallen to his knees, hands over his bleeding and swollen face. It sniffed the air; the only smell in it was blood, with a faint trace of poinsettia, which seemed to be from his clothes. Astoundingly, he had not shed a single tear, otherwise Mew would've smelled the salt on him. It walked past him as he attempted to scrub the blood from his face with his shirt, shifting from Arcanine to Golduck as it slid into the water.

Thankfully, the edge of the water was not very deep, and it only had to search ten feet before finding the boy's lost books. It took hold of them and broke the surface, returning to its normal form to hover just above it. It hummed slightly as it used Heal Bell, the sweet cadence of tones drying the pages and recovering the charred parts. The boy, also, blinked in surprise as his wounds disappeared, the blood the only remnant of his attack. Mew was careful to leave the books just behind him, disappearing as he turned around. It settled itself behind a house as he stood, picking up the books with wary curiosity. He moved over to the shadow of another home before settling down again, cracking open one and immersing himself in its pages. Content, Mew took the form of a wild Nidoran and shifted its attention to the others. Finding them was a menial task for its Psychic abilities; it quickly discovered them inside Pallet Town's Pokémon Laboratory.

The Professor, an elderly man called Oak or the Pokémon Professor, was feeding a pair of young Charmander when Zach, Allan, and Joseph burst in in a flurry. Oak turned, a greeting on his lips, but Joseph beat him to it, frantically screaming, "Arcanine! An Arcanine outside!"

Oak chuckled as the Charmander began a game of tag. "Is this like the time you said a Spearow was reading on your chimney, or an Aerodactyl was hiding under your bed?"

"It was!" he protested. "I was right then and I'm right now! Take a look!"

Deciding to humor the lad, Oak walked past him and pulled back the curtains on the window. Scanning the southern vicinity of Pallet yielded no results further than a couple of wayward Caterpie. Zach and Allan immediately worked themselves into a frenzy; Oak shook his head, silencing them. "Joseph, you really should stop making up these stories," he sighed. "I know your parents work frequently, however—"

"I'm _not_ making it up!" he shouted. Raichu squeaked his assent, followed by Geodude's much less convincing support. "Man, whatever!" He spun on his heel, tailed by his Raichu. Zach was the first to chase after him, followed by Allan after he returned his Geodude. Mew dodged their wild feet as they stomped through the door, slamming it shut. Oak looked after them pitifully, similar to a parent that had to watch their child go rotten in front of their eyes, unable to help. Mew caught the door just before it closed, slipping through the crack of an opening. It paused just outside of the Pokémon Laboratory; the boy had disappeared from his spot. It sniffed around for him but couldn't find him at all; he must've been in a home, surrounded by other scents that overpowered his. Well, it couldn't linger on a human, not when it so markedly had a tongue lashing waiting in the other world.

The sun had begun to set, marking the time the humans chose to return to their dwellings for the evening. As soon as the last man disappeared inside his home, all thoughts calm and sedentary, Mew resumed its original form and sent a telepathic alert to Palkia. A small rip in the air appeared almost instantaneously, allowing it to slip through into the separate space known as Arceus' dimension.

The Alpha Pokémon had its back to the entrance Mew came in through, speaking in hushed mental tones to Rayquaza and Kyogre. It didn't understand very much of what it was saying, but Mew caught the gist that the two were being reprimanded for something. Rayquaza was scowling, an expression adopted from human adolescents, and Kyogre appeared impenitent, the rain not lamenting over whoever's home it drowned. Mew inaudibly floated up to one of the many bright stars littering the dark sky, hiding itself behind its brilliance. Arceus, for the most part, seemed oblivious. That is, until its thoughts finally reached Mew:

 _Come here; do not attempt to conceal yourself. This is my dimension; I would be a fool to not notice a soul wandering it._

Mew was silent and somber as it slowly floated down to the much larger Pokémon's side. Rayquaza chortled, a sound highly comparable to a crackle of thunder. _I never thought these eyes would behold the Ancient Pokémon in my very own position!_ it laughed, throwing its head back and waving its tail. _You are no better than either of us, recalcitrant little brat!_

 _I am not a brat,_ Mew protested. _It would be wise for you to watch your language in the face of your elder, Rayquaza._ It punctuated the sentence with a sharp crack of ice to Rayquaza's tail; it gasped, snapping it back with obvious pain flashing across its draconic face. That expression quickly dissolved into his usual ferocious countenance as it lunged at Mew, held back at the last moment by Arceus' hoof.

 _Release me at once!_ it roared, eyes full of fire and jaw snapping hungrily. _I'm completely fed up with this insolent little wench! This daft, the_ Ancient Pokémon _, higher on the hierarchy than me?_ It barked out a humorless laugh. _I'll chew you up and spit out the bloody bits, Mew!_

 _Rayquaza, calm yourself!_ Arceus ordered. Its order could've went unspoken (or un-thought, would be a better phrase) for all the good it did; Rayquaza's temperament was no less volatile than when Mew first spoke ( _thought_ ; speaking is for humans, it tried to remember) against it. Kyogre turned to Mew resignedly.

 _Perhaps you should take your leave,_ it suggested. A flare of protest rose in their minds; it turned to Arceus, the source of it, and continued, _You may bend Mew's ear later, Arceus; for now, the main concern is calming Rayquaza before it forgets that its temperament maintains the protective layer around Earth, and such a puerile tantrum will put the planet in danger._

 _Excellent point,_ Arceus said, and if Mew didn't know any better it would say the ancient creator sounded petulant. It released its Psychic hold on its body and let itself drift among the universe, letting the immensity and blinding iridescence of the stars envelope it like a blanket. Its attention wandered to a small glacial blue star alone in the far reach of the galaxy. Somehow, it reminded it of the boy.

* * *

The initial shock hit Mew before any thoughts of what actually transpired. It was jolted from a momentary rest by an immense feeling of distress similar to electricity coursing through its small body. It spun until it was floating upright, searching Arceus' universe for whatever caused such a disturbance. It soon realized that the anomaly was not of their world, but of the humans', of the boy's. That thought had Mew practically screeching at Palkia to open a dimensional rift, the Space Pokémon grumbling at its volume in return as it took its sweet time opening a portal. Mew didn't even wait until it was fully formed; it shoved itself through when it was still the size of a tennis ball, altering its appearance slightly to make the squeeze.

Pallet Town, at first glance, was its usual mundane self, but a quick telepathic scan revealed something atypical travelling through the skies, Rayquaza's domain. It frantically searched all universes, the sub-domains of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos; however, Rayquaza was nowhere to be seen. Ah, damn it, Mew thought, grimacing slightly at its uncharacteristically human choice of words. The obtrusion that normally would have been instantly repelled by the dragon easily passed through the ozone, dropping like the meteor it was until it hit the ground, creating a tsunami of dirt and grass as it buried itself in the dirt of Route 1.

No sooner than when Mew decided to investigate the dust abruptly cleared, revealing a smooth purple stone inlaid into the earth. It pulsed with a steady heartbeat, it noticed, something so very alive and very wrong an involuntary shiver ran through its body. The heartbeat was soon accompanied by a visible purple corona that surrounded the small meteorite. Mew propelled its Psychic energy forward, trying to get a sense of it, but something about it was as repulsive as a Dark-type, reversing the flow of energy back to Mew and causing it a major migraine. It collapsed to the ground with a loud whine, clenching its small head until the splitting pain passed. When it returned to the air, the meteorite was gone.

What? Mew thought, flitting around in search of it. The crater was still there, tendrils of dark grey smoke wafting up from the charred earth, but the stone had completely vanished. It was then that Mew again felt that spine-tingling sense of wrongness, that chilling cold that permeated its body. It revolved slowly, apprehensive for the first time in its life, and beheld something that couldn't possibly have been of Earth, even though it somewhat resembled a Pokémon.

The thing had its back to Mew, coupled with the darkness faintly deterred by dim starlight and clouded moon, so it couldn't get an accurate view, but the things it could see were vivid enough. It had a mixture of orange and teal skin, two tentacles where each arm should have been, and legs that tapered to a point rather than having feet. As Mew watched, a sickly _glug-glug-glug_ sound was emitted from its body, like water boiling under extreme heat but magnified and with reverb. Its head, previously oblong, shifted like clay being molded, changing to a three-pointed circle. Its tentacles shifted, uncoiling and falling limp around its thinning body, while its knees jutted out, becoming pointed, and its upper thighs smoothed somewhat. Mew covered its mouth to suppress a gasp; the only Pokémon capable of transforming were it and Ditto, Zorua and Zoroark as well if you were to count illusions, even though the alien Pokémon seemed quite real. It was obviously not Mew, and since Mew couldn't read its thoughts it couldn't have been a Ditto, so what was it?

A low buzz wrung Mew from its thoughts. It was unable to hide its gasp this time as it caught the foreign thing charging a ball of bright white energy in front of its assumed face, a move Mew instantly recognized. It attempted to race forward but, for the first time in its extremely long life, Mew tripped on itself, falling to the dirt. It rose just as the energy disappeared, then felt its heart stutter to a stop as the thing's body jerked forward with the huge pulse of blinding energy that poured forth from it, a high-pitched screeching noise succeeding it. The Hyper Beam was of a magnitude Mew had never seen from a non-Legendary; it sliced through the stone and brick homes as if they were water, not just blowing apart or destroying but completely _obliterating_ them, as if they never existed in the first place, sweeping the attack side to side like a broom. A pain reverberated in Mew's chest as it felt dozens of thoughts abruptly disappear, leaving not even a trace as this—this _monster_ was doing.

When it seemingly was mollified, cutting the attack off, three-fourths of Pallet Town had completely disappeared. Completely. It was as if somebody had cut a rectangular slice out of the area; nothing but air existed for at least a mile around, the dirt and rock deposits not even appearing until a hundred and twenty-two feet below the original height of the land. The alien looked between the destroyed and unharmed pieces of land as if admiring the job it did. Mew, frustrated, sent the strongest blast of Thunder in its direction that it could. To Mew's utter astonishment, the alien disappeared, leaving the attack to instead burn away a patch of dirt. What— it thought it incredulity, but was unable to finish as it heard something land in the dirt behind it. Mew's reaction was too slow; the alien blasted it with Zap Cannon, the electricity propelling it into the air until it hit the edge of the drop-off. It regained consciousness quickly enough for it to launch itself back in the air before it fell into the canyon that thing created.

 _Who are you?_ Mew pressed, though it was unsure if the thing could even process its words. _Where are you from? Why are you attacking this town?_

The alien either didn't want to respond or didn't understand the question, though it may have been more of the latter. It simply stood there, perhaps even inclined its head if Mew's senses weren't dulled. Mew sighed, resigning itself to the dreaded "forceful methodology" as it charged a Shadow Ball. The thing could apparently sense moves as well as it could utilize them—the way the purple stone embedded in its torso glowed could even be called a Psychic reaction, though Mew was beyond categorizing it with Earth Pokémon types for the time being—because it disappeared again just as Mew completed the attack. It spun, prepared to deal it, but the creature wasn't behind it. It prepared to lurch high into the air for a better view before it felt a painful jab in its back, followed by a gut-wrenching sting of something acidic that sent it sprawling on the floor, energy dissipating ineffectually into the air.

 _Uguu_ , Mew groaned, an icy feeling of numbness coursing through its veins. The thing's legs strolled into view; from Mew's angle, it seemed that it was staring down at it. Mew tried to raise its head but found its body completely useless. It took a few moments for Mew to realize that the thing was actually trying to communicate with it.

*EAR YUO HTE CASRNEOT OF LLA HRTEA MOKEONP?* The way it spoke alone was very perplexing; it was neither mental nor vocal, yet somehow Mew understood every word as if they were engraved upon its brain, _understood_ perhaps being a poor choice of wording for its puzzling speech.

'Ear yuo hte casrneot of lla hrtea mokeonp,' Mew thought, utterly baffled. The alien shifted its feet in an almost apprehensive manner.

*MA DNUTRDOESO? MA CRUENTANI FI THAER KPOEOMN OPCMRHEEDN HTSI...* Mew felt something poke its back, then the alien's tentacle flipped it onto its back. It was staring at Mew inquisitively. *LEOSTNENHSE. I EAVH A RUPEOPS.* It stepped back a few feet, tentacles raised in preparation to launch another attack.

 _Name,_ Mew said, though it came out as more of a weak whine. _A name, please…_

The alien visibly halted. *DEOXYS* it stated monotonously after five seconds' worth of deliberation. Suddenly Deoxys' head snapped to the sky, just in time to watch a pillar of orange and gold fire pierce it with laser accuracy. Deoxys skidded across the dirt, brown smoke momentarily obscuring it from view. When that cleared, the alien had obviously changed forms again. This one appeared defensive, if Mew had to describe it; Deoxys' body was rounder and its tentacles flatter and more malleable, obvious in the way they extended to shield its body from the Dragon-type's flames.

 _Rayquaza,_ Mew mewed. The Sky High Pokémon dropped to the ground, coiling itself like an Arbok and growling at its newest opponent. It grabbed Mew in its claws, not at all carefully or considerately but gently enough for it not to be crushed or choked.

 _You should thank Arceus I intervened when I did,_ it said with a draconic smile. _At the same time, curse him for putting me on punishment._ Mew involuntarily shuddered; Arceus' punishments were quite horrid. _Otherwise I could've stopped this freak before it even entered my mesosphere._

*A NWE NEO* Deoxys said, what seemed to be amazement marring its face. *HET KSY HIGH MKOEPON. TEH AGUDRNAI FO ATHER'S EAHNEV*

 _What is this illiterate imbecile saying?_ Rayquaza snorted. Deoxys perhaps understood that, because it chose that moment to change back to its antecedent form, firing an impressive Ice Beam. Rayquaza dodged it easily, its speed being unparalleled, and the ice completely froze ten large oak trees. Rayquaza threw its head back and laughed, circling Deoxys like a Mandibuzz. _Hah! The day_ I _, the great Rayquaza, am overwhelmed is the day I relinquish my position as the Sky High Pokémon! You are no match, alien or not! Pokémon or not!_ Its tail glowed with blue and gold energy as it spun around, whipping it in Deoxys' direction. Deoxys blocked the attack again, though it did knock it back a few steps. It took that opportunity to shift again, this form appearing more aerodynamic and lithe. Its head protrusions streamlined like jet wings and it lost its topmost tentacles, its legs thinning instead. It looked Rayquaza directly in its eyes.

*YOU ARE NO MATCH* Something about its tone hinted it was just mimicking Rayquaza's words, but the dragon was angered nonetheless—not that angering it was a herculean feat since, after all, it had the shortest fuse of all Dragon-type Legendaries.

 _I am more than enough to deal with you!_ Rayquaza roared, seemingly forgetting that it was toting Mew as it raced towards Deoxys. The alien disappeared in the blink of an eye, forcing Rayquaza to stop just as it reappeared millimeters from its face. It spun around and jabbed Rayquaza right between the eyes with several quick strikes from its quicker legs, forcing the Legendary back in the air until it was far above the ruined Pallet Town. It roared in anger as Deoxys slowed enough to appear on one of the houses, expression almost pitiful. Mew grabbed Rayquaza's arm warningly but it shook it off, a deep rumble resonating in its throat as it fired an indeterminately powerful Dragon Pulse. Deoxys skittered away to the ocean's edge triumphantly as if it was expecting just that, as if it knew at first glance that Rayquaza was one to lose its temper and waste all of its energy in a single attack if provoked.

Deoxys' new form, obviously built for speed, effortlessly evaded Rayquaza's attack, and, unable to cancel it, the draconic energy easily wrecked the part of Pallet that Deoxys didn't, though instead of completely obliterating everything it simply destroyed it, leaving more graphic evidence in its place. _The boy,_ Mew thought, an agitated gasp escaping its lips.

 _Boy? What boy?_ Mew cursed itself for making its thoughts audible; Rayquaza was as nosy as it was impertinent. _Hah! Don't tell me that's why you were in trouble with the big guy! You interacted with one of those worthless little Rattata?_

Mew ignored it for the time being, squirming free from its grip and salvaging the energy to gauchely float down. Rayquaza's destruction was patently messier than Deoxys', leaving debris and bodies scattered everywhere. It was startling the humans didn't go out to investigate; perhaps it was one of Deoxys' abilities that kept them inside where they were so obviously endangered. It checked the shore, the Pokémon Laboratory, and every ruined house, but it was unable to find a single trace of the boy. Maybe he was a victim of that Hyper Beam, it thought dejectedly, landing in a pile of torn mattress. Its feathery warmth somewhat reminded it of Ho-Oh, whom it hadn't seen in a very long time. It looked up disconsolately, watching Rayquaza lurch at Deoxys, sending it back a few steps, before snapping back into the sky to avoid its attacks. Though it recognized the strategy, it couldn't be happy about it; it simply felt mournful for the boy whose name it never knew.

Deoxys flinched as its foot scraped the lip of the ocean. It had reached the end of Pallet Town (or its remains, at least) and there was nowhere left to go but under. Rayquaza grew within breathing space and stuck its tongue out, whipping around to snap its tail in Deoxys' face. Deoxys stumbled back in the water, but the splash was never heard; Palkia took that moment to intervene with a space portal, sealing the alien in a different dimension. Mew sighed; they were safe, to be technical, but even Dialga's powers couldn't restore lives lost. The precocious little boy would forever be lost to the world.

 _Mew, quit daydreaming,_ Rayquaza chastised, prodding it with its tail. _I know Arceus wants us all back to talk, so hasten yourself!_ It took off then, slithering through the sky and disappearing into the night. Mew started to rise, feeling the odd sensation of tears pricking at its eyes, and prepared to signal Palkia before a weak cry broke through the painful silence. It spun around, stretching its Psychic abilities as far as they could go, but it sensed no life. Its heart leapt; that meant only one person.

It traced the cry back to a brown-brick home that had completely collapsed. It paused, flitting from spot to spot and picking away at the bricks telekinetically, before the cry came again, this time from underneath the chimney. It was a simple yet arduous task to move the entire collapsed structure, but Mew, motivated, made quick work of it, revealing its little friend curled up amidst a few jutting wires that were presumably from the mantle. They held up the bricks, it thought, daring to move closer. This boy is lucky, indeed.

Mew initially tried to move it by use of Psychic; however, the boy's body absorbed its mental effort like a sponge, rendering it useless. Sighing, Mew found the energy to transform yet again, this time choosing a Charizard. It pushed back the debris and very carefully took the boy in its arms, noting with displeasure the extreme cold of his body. Perhaps that cry was his final breath, Mew thought melancholically. Nevertheless, it wasn't going to allow his body to decompose there; if the boy had truly died, it would give him a proper burial in due time. At that moment, however, its duties laid with the Legendary Pokémon of the world.

Palkia's gruff voice resonated in its mind, asking if it was ready to travel. Mew hoped it didn't sound as anxious as it believed as it agreed. The spatial rift appeared high in the sky, almost like a black eye against the moon. Mew flapped its wings, gliding on an uprising current to reach it. It grew close enough to taste the stardust but had to pause, turning to stare back at the desolate town. The humans would notice soon enough and put it on their "news network," it thought. It couldn't help but mourn for all the lives lost; it also couldn't help the deep feeling of resentment that congealed in its chest. It was Deoxys' fault, it thought. And it made sure to exact its revenge soon.

Arceus' impatient bark sounded from inside the portal. Giving Pallet Town one more despondent glance, Mew disappeared into the portal.


	2. 02 Solitary Vagrant

Arceus' dimension was a hodgepodge of other dimensions, all linked by invisible-to-the-eye portals in the star. One could travel from the Kalos region to Kanto in the blink of an eye; that was how dimensional travel worked. It made it much easier for Mew to slip through among the incoming Legendaries and into its portal, returning to its dimension.

Mew's dimension was like Arceus' in that it was also outer space, however its "sky" was a light pink gradient like its fur, and it had much brighter stars. Then there were its "toys," those being items that the humans had thrown out and it collected. It tried to lay the boy in a crib with a broken gate but found him too big; briefly searching its collection, it rediscovered its favorite item: a large bed with very soft sheets and a very soft mattress. It carefully laid the boy down on it, maneuvering him away from the protruding springs, and covered him with the sheets, as if he was asleep. To be honest, Mew was hoping he was simply asleep.

 _Mew, what are you doing?_ Arceus' heated voice rang in its head. Mew sighed and, casting one more forlorn glance at the boy, passed through the portal again into Arceus' dimension. It was packed in a figurative sense, being filled with every Legendary Pokémon in the world, but not literally, so it was still able to float and maneuver around the others until it was at Arceus' right hand side.

 _How are you, Arceus?_ Mew asked genially. If its expression could change, Mew would've said it seemed irate.

 _Listen,_ it said pithily, turning to acknowledge every Legendary present at the haphazard meeting. _I know how arbitrarily this gathering has been called—_

 _You can say that again!_ Latios snorted, Keldeo clicking its hoofs together in agreement.

 _—_ _however, it was extremely necessary,_ Arceus finished, staring at them passive-aggressively. _There has been an infringement in Earth's atmosphere due to Rayquaza's impertinence—_ Rayquaza snorted, openly glaring and growling at Mew, _—and we need to decide on a course of action. Palkia, if you please._

Palkia grunted as the magenta lines crisscrossing its body glowed with pink energy. A rip suddenly appeared in Arceus' space, as if someone had brought a knife to the air and sliced straight down. Deoxys appeared in the center of the room as opposed to just outside of the portal, though it was still in its Speed Form, so that was most likely the explanation. Its beady eyes scanned the room quickly before landing on Rayquaza. *GANIA, UYO! SYK DURAGINA AUQYRZAA* Everyone grimaced a bit at having to experience its alien form of communication, even Rayquaza, who was used to it, which caused its reaction to be a fraction of a second too late as Deoxys charged it.

 _Hey!_ A blue aura appeared around Deoxys, immobilizing it; it made an odd sort of screeching sound, eyes searching for the culprit. Latios rolled his eyes. _The next time you want to attempt to attack someone, do so without a Pokémon able to sense emotions in the room, okay?_

 _You're_ so _not amusing,_ Latias scowled, gliding over until she was within breathing distance of Deoxys—assuming that it did breathe. She laid a gentle hand over the alien's head; it immediately bucked forward, both surprising and irking Latios as his face twisted in concentration. Deoxys was stilled yet again, though obviously by a small margin. Latias closed her eyes and hummed gently, an action quite familiar to the other Hoenn Legendaries but not as much to the rest.

 _What is that supposed to be?_ Zekrom asked.

 _She is reading his being using her Psychic abilities,_ Suicune answered placidly.

 _Sounds like a sham to me,_ Heatran snorted, stomping his feet.

 _So does cleaning yourself, but nobody here is judging,_ Keldeo said, laughing. Cobalion looked at it censoriously; Keldeo whistled and kicked at the ground innocuously in response. Latias' eyes snapped open before Cobalion could come up with an apt reply.

 _Deoxys is the DNA Pokémon,_ she said, meeting everyone's eyes. _It originated from a virus floating in space suffering from a mutation; this stone in its chest is its nucleus._

Latios continued, _It means to do harm, and a lot of it. A very vengeful Pokémon, it is; it's very obviously unsafe to let this eyesore roam the regions. I say that we burn it at the stake presently._

 _Thank you for your outdated views on dealing with anomalies, Latios,_ Virizion commented sardonically. Latios shot it a withering look.

 _I suppose you have better_ pacifistic _ideas, then?_

 _Everybody has better ideas than your prepubescent self,_ Zapdos said. _Your best idea was to remain in Hoenn, sparing us Kanto Pokémon the stress of seeing you._

 _Zapdos, please,_ Articuno chided.

 _All of you, please!_ Entei barked.

 _SILENCE!_ Arceus roared. All of the Legendaries closed their mouths; the only sound remaining was a low gurgle of breath. _Breath_. Everybody looked at each other; it seemed that the sound had not originated from Arceus' dimension. Rather, it was coming from one of the stars. _Did someone carry another being in our sacred place?_ Arceus demanded, stomping a hoof.

 _No,_ the Legendaries chorused. Arceus' head snapped in Mew's direction when it was a heartbeat too slow in responding.

 _Latios, Kyogre, and Groudon,_ Arceus said without turning. _I want you two creators to make an island far off of Hoenn's coast and seal Deoxys up there. As for you, Mew—_ Mew whined, shrinking back into a little pink ball. Arceus jabbed it hard with a hoof; Mew landed on its stomach with a wheezing exhale. _We are going to have a very serious_ discussion. _Meeting_ _dismissed!_ It punctuated the sentence with a loud slam of his hoof.

The Legendaries scattered, random thoughts flying back and forth as they slipped back into their regions. Soon, only Mew and Arceus remained. _Show me,_ it demanded, the finality of its tone leaving no room for protest or fabrications. Acquiescent, Mew went back to its world, Arceus at its tail.

 _He's right—what?_ Mew broke off as it realized the boy had disappeared from the bed. It tried to search for him but the endless piles upon piles of random human possessions made it hard to find such a small person. _He's somewhere in here,_ it said. _He can't fly, so he couldn't have escaped._

Arceus looked to the side and bowed its head slightly. Mew followed its gaze and spotted a dark spot against its plush fuzzy "carpeting," if it remembered the name correctly. It floated down and found the boy sitting on a vinyl armchair, a large leather-bound volume balanced on his knees. _Hello?_ Mew said, tapping his fingers. He simply adjusted himself, not bothering to look up. It looked at Arceus helplessly.

 _Human boy,_ Arceus boomed in its loud authoritative voice. The boy jumped, dropping the book to the ground and nearly falling from the chair as its head snapped towards Arceus. _Is this a survivor of Deoxys' attack?_ it asked Mew.

 _The only one,_ Mew murmured wretchedly, landing on his head. _I am sorry._

He appeared tense at first, then touched its fur and relaxed. "I know you." It was the first time it ever heard him speak; his voice was very musical, like soft bells. It had the lull of one who was unused to speaking. "You're the Ancient Pokémon, Mew. I read about you." He pointed at Arceus. "And you're the Alpha Pokémon, the one who is said to have created everything."

 _He studies well, for a human,_ Arceus noted. _They are usually too preoccupied with the now than the before; they are more concerned with present affairs than the intricacies of how they came to be._

 _He's different,_ Mew said. _Very much so._

Arceus appeared pensive. The boy, finally appearing adjusted to the presence of two ultra-Legendary Pokémon, reached down to take up his book. _Nevertheless, he must be returned to his world,_ Arceus finally decided.

 _But Pallet Town is destroyed,_ Mew protested. His eyes widened slightly; it turned to him apologetically, remembering that he had been unconscious.

 _There are many cities in many regions; pick one and drop him off._

 _That is quite callous of you, Arceus._

 _My responsibility does not lie with an orphaned child, Mew, neither is he a pet to be kept by us._

 _But—_

 _Mew, do you not understand me?_

 _But how do you even know—_

"Shh," he murmured, engrossed in his book yet again.

 _He doesn't appear to want to leave,_ Mew said.

 _That's not the problem. A human can't exist in these conditions—_

 _I'll help him!_

Arceus gazed at it evenly. _Why are you so interested in this human boy?_

 _I just am, like you were interested in Damos._

That seemed to strike something within Arceus. It sighed, rising into the air. _Only know that I highly disapprove of this, Mew,_ it said before passing through the portal, disappearing. Mew smiled, falling back on its bed. It knew Arceus well enough to know that was its way of agreeing, albeit grudgingly. It turned to the boy, who had resumed reading, and floated over, plopping down softly in his lap and curling up like a Persian.

"Why do you want me?" he asked, his voice even softer than before. "I'm unimpressive. I'm nobody. Joey and his friends always beat me up 'cause I'm a nerd that reads books… My parents caught Pokérus and died, and nobody wanted to adopt me 'cause they were afraid I had it too…" Mew was perplexed as small drops of salty water fell on the book's pages. Where did it come from? "I'm totally unimportant… Why would a Legendary want me?" Mew realized that the moisture was coming from him; it did understand tears in a scientific way, but not too well. It knew that things only cried when they were sad, however. It patted the boy's shoulder hearteningly.

 _It's okay,_ it cooed. _You're not unimportant. I really like you…_ It trailed off, still unsure of his name.

"Aristotle," he sniffed, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. "My name is Aristotle. But… Oak called me Aries because… He said I have a kind of fire in my eyes…"

 _Aries…_ The name seemed to fit him _. Do you really wish to stay?_ it pressed. _Arceus said that these conditions aren't suited for humans; you can be in extreme pain without proper training._

"I really want to read these, though." He looked at the tipping stacks of random books around him. "You have books from all the regions, and I really love to read…"

 _It's never been done, training a human to be like a Legendary. It could take years and would place more pressure on your body, mind, and spirit than anything you could ever experience in the human world. You can go back now, Aries, and find human friends and live a normal life._

"Hah," he murmured. "I'm five years old and I know twice as much as Oak; I can't really be called normal anymore. I'm just that weird kid that would rather read a novel than battle Pokémon like everyone else his age."

 _You're not weird at all._

"Doesn't matter. It was stupid of me to say," he muttered. Mew stood up, hugging his arm awkwardly.

 _It was not,_ it protested. His eyelids fluttered.

"Everyone is really gone, aren't they?"

 _They are, Aries._

"Even Joey?"

 _Joey as well._

His eyes shut tightly. "I miss him. A lot."

He was very quiet for a long time, long enough for Mew to gather that he was sleeping. It poked his cheek curiously; he was injured, so resting was not abnormal, but if he had a concussion then he could potentially slip into a coma. It was terribly irritating to be unable to use its powers on him, which included healing. Someday, Mew would find the answer to that, but for now, the human needed his rest.


	3. 03 Aurora Borealis

Taking care of a human was much like taking care of an injured Pokémon—if Pokémon were more complex than amino acid chains. They had different needs to attend to, different resistances, different aversions. Aries woke up exactly three hundred and sixty-two minutes later and requested something to eat. Evidently, that one request was more than both of them could handle.

Mew started off with some Berries; they were basic Pokémon food, and it had seen humans eat them on occasion. Aries rejected them instantly, stating that he was allergic to one but unsure of the exact Berry and didn't want to risk it. A little irritated, it tried Magikarp, but Aries also rejected it, saying he couldn't eat raw fish. An attempt to cook it failed miserably, a second attempt failing even worse when Moltres failed to understand the word "overcooked." Finally, Mew decided to get scientific with it, combining glucose, glycerol, and fat-soluble vitamins into a chalky paste, offering it to Aries with assurances of it quickly allowing him to heal. Dubious, he tasted it, only to end up horrifically bilious moments later. Mew was still trying to figure out what went wrong with its formula.

The second confusing instance was his body's way of expelling waste. Mew requested that he do it in a bag so that it may dispose of it, which he seemed fine with at first, but simply stood there as Mew hovered in its spot, appearing more and more anguished by the second. Mew repeatedly asked him what the problem was but he simply shook his head, which was when Mew finally decided to take its leave. It returned five minutes later and Aries shoved the bag in its direction, an odd expression on his face. Humans are strange, was Mew's only thought on the matter.

Though he remained peculiar in his ways, he was a very avid learner, Mew discovered. Four hours out of the day it took him aside to teach him basic human skills such as arithmetic and history, come to find he already had the knowledge of a full-grown man. Mew decided to instead teach him the ways of the Legendary—meditation, arbitration, and divine intervention, which included their godly abilities. He was most dubious about his ability to learn them, where Mew convinced him that even a commonplace human could learn rudimentary Psychic abilities, such as Gym Leader Sabrina.

Time passed much slower in the Legendaries' dimensions than it did on Earth, but Mew measured three days of Earth time before Aries' body finally reached its limit. One day Mew returned from an excursion to the human world-they chalked up the destruction of Pallet Town to "foreign intervention," which seemed to be their description of Deoxys; suffice it to say, there was still a lot of mystery surrounding the event for them, as well as a severe amount of grief-and didn't find him in his usual chair reading. It searched a bit before hearing his cry, the same cry he made when he was in pain from Deoxys' attack. It found him curled up beneath a toppled tower of books, which were so large they almost dwarfed his small body.

It quickly made work of the mess, tossing the books out of his way and attempting to help him to his feet; however, he cried out again, refusing to straighten up or move a single millimeter. It occurred to Mew that he had been in its dimension for three days, which was an extraordinary amount of time for him to have been completely at ease. It would've congratulated him, but judging by the extreme pain caused by the abnormal pressure of the dimension, he would most likely be unwelcoming.

 _Arceus warned you of this,_ it said. A single tear streaked down his splotchy face and his lips twisted into a contorted line.

"It hurts," he moaned. "Ten times worse than Joey and his friends. A hundred times worse than the chimney. It really hurts, mum."

He had a tendency to slur his _Mew_ into _mum_ , which Mew would have usually protested, but at the moment his health was its main concern. It tried to soothe him, humming lullabies it had often heard in the human world and wiping away each tear he shed, however he continued to writhe in pain. It was painful how useless Mew was; if only I could heal him, it thought miserably. Then, I shouldn't be lamenting over this. I should be trying to find an answer.

It took a while, but Mew managed to coerce him into a sitting position. _Meditate,_ it said. Aries ignored it the first time, grimacing. _Meditate,_ Mew repeated, sitting opposite to him _. It will help, I promise. Just close your eyes and slip back into your mind; it shouldn't be hard, especially since you do this every time you fall into a book._

Aries exhaled slowly but closed his eyes. Almost immediately the tension left his body and he was completely still. Mew silently hovered around him, touching him in several places on his body and failing to cause him to even flinch. It smiled, clapping his hands; he mastered meditation very quickly for a human, though the extreme pain was probably a very good motivation.

He spent five human hours and twenty-one minutes in a meditative state; Mew took advantage of the time, checking in on the human world while he couldn't ask it about it. Though it would love to take him there, it would have too many repercussions; he was the lone survivor of Pallet Town, meaning that too much attention would be drawn to him, too many questions would be asked, and one of the things Mew learned about him was whatever the situation, he never lied. For him to speak about the Legendary Pokémon and the several entrances into their dimensions would spell out their destruction—not that Mew believed that humans were destructive like the others, but it did believe that most ruined things that they touched, and it loved its junk collection.

Mew returned with something the humans called "ice cream," which was frozen Moomoo Milk congealed into a thick slush and colored with artificial flavors. For all of its fallacy, it did taste very nice, and it wanted to share it with Aries, come to find out that he had come out of his meditative state somewhere on its excursion and had fallen asleep. It landed next to him and nudged his face; he moaned softly, rolling onto his back.

 _Aries, I have something incredibly fascinating I want you to see,_ it promised. Aries' eyelids slid back a bit.

"Wha's it?" he slurred groggily. Mew held out the ice cream cone; he half-sat up, looking at it in mild interest.

 _They call it 'ice cream.'_

"I know, Mew. I had it in Pallet Town."

 _Oh._ Mew's shoulders slumped. It had wanted to surprise Aries, but again fell flat on its face; having read more books than the average man did in his lifetime, he knew everything that was on Earth, meaning he was nearly impossible to impress.

"I don't like sweet things anyway," he said. Mew suspended it in the air with Psychic, keeping the bubble of energy cool so it didn't melt.

 _You're feeling better?_

"Yeah; I mean, it still kinda hurts, but not nearly as badly."

 _That's very good. You're the first human to have learned the art of meditation so quickly and fluently, but it does help that you already do it._

"You can learn a lot if you're always alone." He didn't say it lugubriously; he said it in a more matter-of-fact manner.

 _You can't possibly always be alone, Aries. You have to have some sort of company—_

"I do," he said. "But it doesn't mean it's the company that I want."

Joey and his friends came to mind. _Why do they assault you as they do? You said that it is because you're always reading, but that certainly can't be the case for all the times._

"Yet, it is." This time, a bit of sorrow trickled into his tone. Mew prodded the ice cream's bubble, watching it quiver and bob in the air.

 _So who gives you the books?_

"Professor Oak," he answered. "He thinks of me as a prodigious scientist, so he gives me all these books on Pokémon and academics."

 _What did you read about me?_ Mew asked inquisitively.

"Um…" He thought for a moment. "You're the Ancient Pokémon, said to be the ancestor of all existing Pokémon. You can learn any and every move and you are invisible to anyone with an impure heart. Did I get it right?"

 _You forgot one thing._ His crestfallen expression was akin to a kicked Growlithe's. _I'm a collector of human items._

"Oh." He looked around at Mew's extensive collection. "I just like the books. Oak only had ones from Kanto; you have them from all the regions. Did you really travel everywhere?"

 _In every time period,_ Mew added.

"Astounding," he breathed. Then he sobered up. "Why did you choose me, Mew? Out of _all_ the people in the world, the Pokémon Champions and adventurers and such, you chose me, a lonely little orphan brat in miniscule Pallet Town."

 _I've noticed that you have an inferiority complex, which is completely ludicrous when you've such an unprecedented, astonishing intelligence quotient and potential as a human._

"You _noticed_?" He appeared bemused then. "You mean you read my mind, right?"

Mew shook its head. _I cannot use any Psychic abilities on you for reasons unknown to me._

"You…can't?"

 _No._

An indecipherable expression passed over his face. It vanished too quickly for Mew to question, only to be replaced by abstraction. "I miss Pallet Town," he murmured. Then, "Could you…take me to my world? Please? Just for tonight?"

 _Aries, I can't. Arceus—_

"He doesn't have to know!"

 _He knows all._

"You don't even have to take me near Pallet Town! Just anywhere, please!" He bowed his head. "Please…"

The longing in his voice was very clear. It touched his head. _Arceus' reasons for you to stay and mine are completely different. He believes that you will die because of this atmosphere and does not want your body to remain in the human world where they can discover the abnormalities in it, correlating it with us Legendary Pokémon; mine are that it would be too problematic for your body to constantly adjust to our world's atmosphere and Earth's, and that your organs and skeleton would eventually suffer from the fluctuating pressure._

"Just once, Mew…" He put his arms around it, pulling it close. Even for a five-year-old, Aries was small; Mew was a little bigger than his whole upper half, which made it awkward as he hugged her like a stuffed animal. "Please. _Please_."

Mew realized that it wasn't childish desire in his voice but pure, agonized longing. It wished more than ever that it could connect with him psychically and feel the pain he felt, but it was left in the dark as he pressed it as tightly as possible against his body, his hair tickling its face. _Aries—Aries, please—you're too—Aries—I can't—_ He didn't relent in the least; if anything, he held it tighter. _Aries—Aristotle, release me—you don't understand—I—I—I'll take you._

He stood up so quickly it was almost inhuman, holding Mew away from him. "You will?" he sniffed.

 _I will. In return, I'd like that you refrain from telling Arceus. I will attempt to hide this excursion from him as long as possible._

"Of course!" Mew noticed that he was looking a little to its left instead of directly at it, but ignored it for the time being. It was going back to the human world, this time with a guest.

* * *

"Where are we?" Aries asked, his breath freezing into a cloud of grey mist. He appeared to be freezing, which was understandable when they were one of the polar regions on Earth, which were renowned for their extreme temperatures, and he was wearing a simple shirt and pants.

 _Far north,_ Mew answered, plopping down into the blanket of snow. It always amazed it how it was so plush, like nature's carpeting. It made a mental note to thank Articuno later. _I want to show you something._

"Can I get a sweater first?" Mew had a hard time understanding him with his teeth chattering so hard.

 _Are you cold, Aries?_

"No, I'm just shaking because I like the feeling." He rolled his eyes with a frozen sigh. It stared inquisitively; it had heard of the emotion, but it was the first time it heard Aries being 'sarcastic.'

 _Why are you being_ sarcastic?

"Because the answer is obvious."

Mew stared at him for a few seconds more before letting its eyes fall to the snow. It had forgotten how fragile humans were; he could very well freeze to death in temperatures like that ill-equipped. It used Protect to create a bubble around them, pushing the snow outside until their little space was just smooth dirt. Then it used a weak Heat Wave, warming the space until Aries relaxed and fell to the ground.

"Warm," he exhaled. "Why did you take me _here_? I could've died; unless you were planning that." His face didn't change but something in his tone did.

 _No!_ Mew looked up at the sky; it was late in the night, perhaps a few hours after the midnight hour, and it was very dark, the three-quarter moon and its few stars barely lighting the area. Around them, some Jynx and Delibird shuffled through the snow, returning to their homes. _I assumed that maybe, after experiencing such pain, you would like to enjoy something. Also, I know you read about this—you read about everything, it seems—but there are tremendously low chances of you having seen it in person._

"Seen what?"

It waited until the last Pokémon disappeared and the area grew quiet. Subsequently, a lone crimson light fluttered through the sky. They watched as it faded, overwhelmed by the darkness, then returned, this time accompanied by a golden spark. The sparks mingled, tested each other, before separating, drifting apart in the endless sky. Soon, trails of aqua and emerald swam into view, looping and twirling and spinning in the same wavy path. They grew in size, intensifying until their light shone through the murk and towards the moon. Other colors appeared, blue and purple and orange, and joined the others, merging until they all formed a long iridescent stream burning through the night sky. Aries gasped, his face glowing with its effervescence.

"The _aurora borealis_!" he said. "The northern lights!" He watched in awe as the lights glittered and gleamed, admiration for nature's beauty clear in his features.

 _I have been observing them since they first appeared and the glory never dulls,_ Mew said, though it doubted he heard him as he appeared completely consumed in watching the lights flash and wiggle. It reclined in their little bubble and watched them with him, content to let him enjoy his moment of humanity in silence. The Legendaries' dimensions had its fair share of visual spectacles; however, none could amount to the naturally-made things on Earth. Aries deserved something normal for that night, before things truly became hard for him.

The northern lights remained in the sky for sixty-seven minutes before they began to wane, lights dulling and fading until they were no more than scratches of color in the blackness of the arctic. It turned to Aries and found him curled up on the dirt, fast asleep. As mature as he acted, he did fall asleep quickly like the child he was. It sighed, pulling his hair and tugging his arm, but he refused to wake up. It slumped against his body resignedly, exhaling.

 _You seem very content, Mew._

It snapped to attention, eyes raised to the sky. Arceus didn't grace it with its physical presence but its voice was still crystal-clear. _Arceus, I'm sorry—_

 _If you've taken him back, you should be prepared to leave him,_ it said impassively.

 _No, Arceus—_

 _What, Mew?_ it snapped. _It was your decision to keep him in our world, yet you brought him back! You disregarded our agreement; it's time to face the repercussions._

 _No, Arceus, I don't want to bring him back!_

There was a loud _boom!_ ; it was astounding that no Pokémon rushed outside to find its source. _You must remember, Mew, that it was_ I _who created all humans as living organisms and_ I _who gave them autonomy; they are not to be coveted and captured and held like trinkets._

 _I_ know _, Arceus! Do you think I am unaware of what I am doing?_ Mew wrapped its tail around him before Arceus could continue, shattering their protective bubble. He shuddered once in his sleep, a grimace twisting his features as he was reintroduced to the painful cold. It floated up, visibly straining to lift a person triple its weight; it quivered and shook in the air, nearly falling back to earth several times as it sped across the snow. It put a block over its mind, shutting out Arceus and any other potential obstructions. It had no idea how it was going to manage a passage home by itself, but it was going to—the only question was if it was going alone, or with Aries.

It wasn't sure how far it got—it couldn't have been more than sixty feet, not with the extra weight—but soon it was unable to support itself even by Psychic, falling to the ground near a loping rock formation that was structured similar to a cave. It managed to drag Aries beneath it, pushing the snow away before it was completely drained of mental energy. It fell to its side, curling into Aries' body. While its mind was clear, its ears were full of the sounds of a forming blizzard, strong winds whirling and shoving snow around and pelting them with it. It wanted to tell Articuno to cease and desist, but opening its mind would make it victim to Arceus' haranguing, and it wasn't worth it. Aries' life, on the other hand, was.

No more than five minutes had passed, but tremors wracked his small body even though he was curled up into as tight a ball as possible. His fingertips and toes were very white and his jaw was clenched so tightly the muscles were like steel. If they stayed like that, he would die of hypothermia before the night had even partly elapsed, and the fault would be for Mew's own egocentricity.

 _I should've just left him in another town, like Arceus said,_ it thought dejectedly.

 _Ah, yes; yet another show of your idiocy._

Mew sat ramrod straight, searching through the thick sheet of snow falling from the sky for the source of the unfamiliar voice. At first, it couldn't see anything, but quickly sensed an approaching presence to the northeast. _Who are you?_ it demanded, fearful of Deoxys' return.

 _Not that virus, Deoxys,_ the voice answered calmly. It gasped; it could read its thoughts too? _And yes, I can read your thoughts perfectly. You really do love that human, don't you? I don't see why; humans are so weak, so fragile. He'll be dead within the hour._

 _Show yourself._

 _Is it my fault it's snowing so hard?_

 _Show yourself,_ it repeated.

 _Fine, fine,_ the other sighed. The snow parted and curved around a bubble of psychic energy, revealing the figure of the stranger. Mew's first action was to gasp, broken and scattered thoughts racing in its mind. _'It looks like me?' That's the basis of those illogical thoughts, am I right?_

 _Who are you?_ Mew demanded again, baffled. The other Pokémon did look like it, however marginally; it had the same skeletal structure and apparently the same mental capabilities, yet whereas Mew's presence was jovial and happy-go-lucky, this one's was foreboding and menacing.

 _The name they gave me is 'Mewtwo,'_ it replied concisely. It stepped closer, snow easily bending to its will as it grew within spitting distance of them. _Though it is not the name I'd prefer, it does describe me very well._ Second to Mew, the Ancient Pokémon. _Ha!_ Its laugh, though mental, was very clear, as if it did produce tangible sound.

 _Why did you approach me?_ It tried to hover protectively over Aries but failed in its powerless state.

 _I'm not here to fight, if that's what you're frightened of,_ Mewtwo stated. _I am actually quite exhausted and not in the mood for conflict. I approached you to offer a bit of advice._

 _Advice?_ it repeated lamely.

 _Yes, advice. I am acutely aware of your self-indulgent want to avoid Arceus and the facts that it's sure to throw at you, so I recommend that you take that dying human to the nearest city, Snowpoint, unless you want your toy to be a Popsicle._

 _Popsicle?_

 _Oh, just take him. Well, my job is done._ It turned back into the blizzard, taking slow purposeful steps until it was just a dot on the horizon.

 _How did you find me?_ Mew thought as loudly as possible. Mewtwo's laugh returned in its skull.

 _Only you, Mew, could have so much compassion lying atop so much resentment._

That chilled Mew down to its skeleton. How could it possibly know, it thought, a weak whine escaping its dry mouth. It heard Aries moan, too, and remembered that he was slipping into critical condition. Discarding its questions, it forced its form to change into that of a Fearow and, taking Aries in its claws, it soared up into the sky, above the freezing clouds, and raced for Snowpoint City.


	4. 04 Misplaced Mercy

Mew amused itself by poking Aries at first, then when that grew tiresome it began fiddling with the intravenous fluid sacks hanging at his bedside. His breathing was normal if not a bit hitched at times, and his extremities were red and spotty with developing blisters from the three heaters warming up the room. At odd intervals his face would twist in pain from the re-warming process, which was when it moved closer and gently stroked his head and hand until he calmed down again.

 _'_ _You must remember, Mew, that it was I who created all humans as living organisms and I who gave them autonomy; they are not to be coveted and captured and held like trinkets.'_

It cringed, resting at his side. Arceus' words were true—painfully so—however it was not willing to part with Aries through a combination of greed and intrigue. He didn't seem to mind, but it was unable to read his mind and soul; humans could so easily lie to disguise their inner feelings. He could've been terrified of it and been pretending to like it out of fear of Mew's powers. It was not unlikely, but the thought of it had Mew's mind racing for any other possible circumstance.

The door opened them, eliciting a gasp from it as it hurried to make itself invisible. It had almost forgotten it could do that since it preferred to have its presence in Aries' life. A thin black-haired woman it instantly identified as Gym Leader Candice and a fair-haired doctor entered the room, the latter approaching Aries' side. Candice crossed her arms over her chest as the doctor—Dr. Alexander Ralph, Mew realized, tuning in to his mental wavelength; he also had three kids, a wife who had suspiciously adulterous actions, and a mother who leeched him of wherewithal—checked Aries' vitals and wrote his observations down on a clipboard.

"How's he doing, Dr. Ralph?" she asked, a thinly veiled note of tension in her voice. It was very understandable when she was the one that discovered Aries' freezing body outside of her Gym—all gratitude being owed to Mew, who stretched its physical limits in getting him there—and had to race him to Snowpoint City's only clinic before he died of hypothermia or lost his limbs due to frostbite. That, and because it could tell by checking Candice's mind that, unlike other Ice-type Gym Leaders, she was very emotionally attached.

"His health is still poor, but he's improved a lot since earlier," the doctor responded, straightening. "It was miraculous that he was found when he was; another five minutes and he would have had frostbite so severe he would've lost a limb. Though I am confused as to why a child was wandering in a blizzard unprepared like this…"

"Maybe he didn't see it coming."

"Anyone that lives here can easily tell when a blizzard's coming, Candice, and no visitors have arrived in a few months. It's a complete mystery where he came from."

"Hey doc, why don't we focus on the _what_ instead of the _how_? Like, what to do with him? I'd like to keep him; it'd be fun to have him and Abomasnow," she mused.

"He's not a pet, Candice. His parents are probably very worried."

"Oh, right." She was more than a bit deflated. Dr. Ralph gave her an even look.

"You wanted to help here since there were no challengers at the Gym, so shouldn't you be, I don't know, _helping_?"

"I tried to help the nurse give medication, but she shooed me away!" she said indignantly. Arceus knows why, the doctor thought sarcastically.

"Well look, I need help with some paperwork. Can you handle that?" he asked. Candice puffed out her cheeks, offended, as he moved past her through the door. She halted at the threshold, moving closer to Aries and taking his small hand in hers.

"Hey, kid, don't die, okay?" she whispered. "There were a lot of deaths in Pallet Town the other day; the whole town was completely destroyed, and both people and Pokémon died. Nobody needs any more sadness after all that." When she was sure he wasn't going to wake up at that moment, she pulled away, shutting the door softly as she exited the room.

Mew rose from Aries' side, becoming visible in case he chose that moment to open his eyes. He had very pretty eyes, it knew, but it couldn't remember the exact color since it changed with the lighting. It wished it could see them though, or a twitch in his blistering fingers, or a compressing of the eyebrows. It wished that it could see his human expressions it had grown so used to—his grimace, his frown, his smile, his admiration—but it also knew that it was its fault that he couldn't make them.

 _It's my fault,_ it thought dolefully, landing on his chest with an inaudible thump. It had always been a curious Pokémon, evident in the way it snatched humans' unwanted possessions to keep in its world and investigate, but Aries was not an inanimate object—far from it; as Arceus said and it was once again painfully reminded of, Aries was autonomous and was not to be kept like its newest knick-knack. It really shouldn't have taken him into its world on some vague premonition, not when he was rooted to life on Earth. It really should've thought things through, but its impetuousness won out in the end, and now both were paying for it.

As if its touch was venomous it lurched into the air, moving as far away from Aries as possible in the cubical room. Its back hit the only window; it turned and fumbled with the brass lock, forcing it open and pushing the window up. Cold air swished in for the span of two heartbeats before it sped through and slammed it shut, a frozen exhale escaping its lips.

Someone _is in a hurry,_ a familiar, sardonic voice noted. Mew spun and found its not-quite-an-adversary, Mewtwo, checking its hand/paw languidly. _Although I would, too, if I realized I was hoarding a human like a pet._

 _I was not,_ it protested feebly, halfheartedly.

 _Yes, yes,_ Mewtwo said, obviously not believing Mew's farce. _Well, I'm just here to offer another bit of advice, out of the goodness of my heart._ Mew waited but it remained silent, gazing at the wintry scenery around them.

 _Is there a punch line to this, Mewtwo?_

 _Oh? Haha!_ It burst into a fit of laughter, doubling over with its arms clenched around its slender torso. _Mew made a joke! How amusing!_ It laughed for a few moments more before sighing, standing straight and wiping its eye. _Well, the "punch line" to this is that Kanto as you know it—and that little playmate of yours?—are both in grave danger._

It took a few moments for that to sink in. _What?_

 _My advice is that you make haste to Mahogany Town of the Johto region. Well, that's it._ It turned, baring its back to Mew, but before it could protest it disappeared. There was no flash of light or puff of snow; it was just there, then Mew blinked and it was gone.

"Mew?" a weak voice crooned. It was so very weak, yet Mew heard it a thousand times over at over a thousand hertz in its mind—it was Aries' unmistakable voice, lost, bemused, a bit fearful. Its first reaction was to move toward him, then it stopped, remembering the reason why it left in the first place. It trembled in the air as tears built in its eyes, freezing into crystal as they fell to the snow. It couldn't have been more uncertain as it opened a mental link with Palkia.

 _Palkia? Are you there?_

 _Eh? Mew? You know, Arceus is 'bout ready to chew you to bits._

 _I know, I know…_ It was lucky its thoughts didn't sound as sob-filled as its voice. _Just… Please open a portal to the Johto region._

 _Eh? Why should I?_

 _Please…_

Palkia perhaps sensed the melancholy and weariness of Mew's voice, because a rip in space appeared directly to its left. It swept in without a second thought—only to fall right into Arceus' clutches. It halted and staggered backwards in the air to no avail; its eyes never left Mew's, its expressionless face somehow appearing furious.

 _'_ _T'was very cold in Snowpoint, it was,_ Mew said halfheartedly. Arceus was not amused in the least.

 _Mew,_ it sighed. Suddenly it didn't seem so terrifyingly frightening anymore; simply very fatigued, as one who governs all in the universe would be. _About the child—_

 _I know what you're going to say,_ it interrupted, _and I already did so, which you should be ecstatic about. I left him in the human's world._

 _Pardon?_ Arceus seemed completely taken aback by this revelation.

 _I thought very hard about what you said—that humans are autonomous and not to be kept as pets—and I realized that however petulant I could act about it, it is the truth; I cannot hold Aries—Aristotle here against his will, not when he has a life with the humans. So I left him._

Arceus regarded it with blank eyes. _That is a very wise decision, Mew; however, his memories—_

 _He's young. One thing I am very aware of is that the adult humans will simply shake off whatever tales he holds of these worlds, and even he will soon forget in a few years. Trust me, Arceus._

Arceus looked like it had more to say on the matter, but with one look at Mew's face it relented, raising its head. _Very well. You may leave._

* * *

 _Hey, Mew!_

Mew squeezed its eyes shut tighter as it squirmed beneath a particularly large pile of old records, hoping to hide, but the effort was fruitless in the face of a fellow Psychic-type. Latios' mental grip was strong and firm as he dragged Mew out and set it atop the bed Aries once slept on; if Mew concentrated enough, it could still smell him.

 _What is it, Latios?_ it sighed. Latios faltered in the air, a slightly dismal expression crossing his face.

 _Why do you say it as if I'm some sort of disease? C'mon, Mew, let's go Junk Hunting!_ He buzzed around like an angry Beedrill, almost blurring with the mach speeds he could reach. _I know a_ very _good spot near Slateport where plenty of human belongings drifted, and I just_ know _you'll_ love _it—_

 _I'm sorry, Latios, but I'm not in the mood._

He halted so fast Mew was almost sad it put a stop to his antics. _What? C'mon Mew, you're_ always _in the mood. Wait…_ He looked around. _Where's that little brat—I mean that adorable child you're toting? What happened to him?_

 _His name is Aristotle._ Mew's thought came out as a low murmur.

 _Yeah, him. What happened to him?_

 _I left him in the human world. To stay._

 _Oh. Oh, wow. Hey, I'm sorry,_ he said weakly, patting Mew's back. _Things happen, you know? But you ever heard that old saying about letting things you love go, and if they come back then it's meant to be?_

 _I'm sorry Latios, but I don't think he'll be returning anytime soon._

 _Oh, well._

 _You should leave._ Mew said it in a neutral tone, not trying to be suggestive or forceful, but Latios took the hint and zoomed away with a small and uncomfortable smile in its direction. It crawled under the heavy sheets, feeling the aching emptiness of both the dimension and its chest cavity. It had left Aries a year ago in Earth time and failed to check in on him or anything transpiring with the humans. It simply sulked in its dimension, shaking off the well-intentioned attempts of its fellow Legendaries.

Fifty-nine Earth weeks after it left Aries, Mew was attempting to read one of the books Aries favored, _The Autonomic System of Ghost-type Pokémon_ , and finding it horribly drab (it already knew all of its contents; it knew every Pokémon inside and out, literally) just when a shuffling of feet broke through the previously still air. The book fell to the ground in its haste to float up, eyes darting to find the source of the noise.

"You should maybe increase you're awareness, 'Ancient Pokémon' Mew," Mewtwo scorned, reclining in what was once Aries' preferred armchair.

"Mewtwo, how—" Mew clapped its hand over its mouth, realizing that not only had Mewtwo verbally spoken, it had as well, in a high-pitched voice it never knew it had.

"How are we communicating verbally instead of mentally?" it finished. Mew nodded, stunned. "Ah, it's a simple yet complicated trick, but it's quite easy to do now that my power is increasing."

"What—" This time, it didn't stop out of surprise; it stopped because it realized Mewtwo's body had grown, appearing four or five feet to Mew's three, and its aura was more potent than previously.

 _What, do you prefer this instead?_ _I don't; such a rigid and formal way of communication. I prefer_ my way _, you see._

"I—" Mew halted, then resumed its conversation telepathically. _I don't know how or why you're here, but you need to leave now._

"Ha!" Its laugh was ten times worse, ten times more derisive and belittling, when Mew could actually hear it. "Your threats are meaningless to one with greater than or equal to power to yours, though I believe the former will be more accurate in a few hours."

 _I— Wait, how_ did _you get here? The only way is through Palkia's portals or the hidden emergency entrances in the humans' world…_

"Your _hidden entrances_ are not so _hidden_ to a fellow Legendary."

 _A_ what?

"A fellow Legendary," it repeated calmly. "Don't tell me you're becoming hard of hearing in your old age."

 _I heard you quite well; I just cannot wrap my head around it._

"Well, you should, because the truth isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

 _Where did you come from, Mewtwo?_

A very brief, very faint expression of pain contorted its features. "Nowhere consequential, I'll have you know. But I digress; I came here to tell you something… Oh, what was it…"

Mew and Mewtwo knew very well that it hadn't forgotten—expert psychics like them never just _forgot_ something—and that it was just toying with Mew, but it was unwilling to rush its opponent lest it do something unpredictable. It still didn't have any idea of its powers or limits; provoking it would be travelling into the Pyroar's den blinded and bound. _Mewtwo_ , it urged. Mewtwo's eyes flicked to it languidly.

"Oh, yes…" It stood, remaining completely still until Mew caught the hint to lower itself until it was eye-to-eye with its other. "I had a nice little speech jotted down, but oh well. Do you remember the advice I gave you earlier, about Johto? Well, you should really get a jump on it."

 _Why should I take heed to a single word you say? You are far worse than an unreliable source, Mewtwo; I don't know why I should pay attention to you._

"True, true," it agreed. Then it smiled. "But what else is there to lose when your little pet is already gone?"

 _He's not—_

"Not your pet anymore," it interrupted. "But you know as well as I that you were containing him as if he was one. Now, I recommend that you visit your fellow Legendaries. And before you start rambling, I _recommend_ ; you have every right humanly and Pokémon-ly possible to refuse to go, but I'm saying that it is _highly_ recommended that you do, especially since you chose to ignore my earlier suggestion. If I were you, I'd be glad I'm going out of my way to tell you all of this in the first place. I do have better things to do with my life, you know."

 _I couldn't tell with the way you shamelessly stalk me._

" _Stalking_ , _strategically observing_ , why nitpick?"

I _don't nitpick; the law does._

"Human law, you mean," it corrected. "Laws regarding Pokémon are, as they say, _an entirely different ballgame_. Pokémon are 'worthless little monsters with fractional IQs and have no value outside of serving the purposes their masters demand.' I heard a group of humans say this. They don't pay us any mind at all, so what happens in the Pokémon world, stays in the Pokémon world." It rose and snapped its fingers in Mew's face, startling it with the realization of how close it drew. "Now, are you going? I do have a lot of reading to do here."

* * *

The main dimension was in a frenzied state. The Eon duo were arguing about something pettily inconsequential and two of the three birds were squawking and circling high above, random bits of thought barely making it to Mew's mind as Latios and Latias shouted telepathically and the golems made a racket with each slow, agonizing step to the center of the cavernous dimension. It attempted to approach the nearest Legendary, which happened to be Rayquaza, but it was in less of a mood to talk than usual.

 _I don't want to hear your crap today, Mew,_ it growled. _Not when everything is so chaotic._

 _Why_ is _it chaotic?_ But Rayquaza had already turned its attention to Groudon. It sighed, searching for the next nearest—and hopefully friendliest—Legendary Pokémon. To its immediate relief, it spotted Cresselia near the Spirits of the Lake. _Cresselia,_ Mew started, approaching her.

 _Hello, dear,_ she greeted, turning to reprimand the others. _Mespirit, Azelf, please stop toying with Uxie._

 _Cresselia, can you please explain to me what in Arceus' name is going on?_ Mew pleaded breathlessly (figuratively, of course).

Cresselia bowed her head, regarding Mespirit and Azelf as they fluttered around Uxie frozen in meditation before speaking, _Are you aware of Team Rocket?_

 _They're Kanto's lords of all underground dealings, correct?_

 _That is accurate, yes. But now they have risen from simple shady actions._

 _What do you mean?_

 _Uh, yeah, Cresselia, you're really slow to get to the point,_ Azelf interrupted, dropping down to Mew's level. _What she's being so_ slow _to say is they've—_

 _They took our dogs!_ Mespirit suddenly wailed, a wave of shiny tears flowing from its eyes as it fell to the ground, sobbing. Azelf rolled its eyes.

 _Far too emotional,_ it commented. _Oh, well, yeah, to put it bluntly, they took our dogs. Entei and Raikou—gone. Poof. Ho-Oh and Lugia found out last night._

 _Silver was out searching for his "uncle" Suicune,_ Uxie intoned, its emotionless voice heavily contrasting Mespirit's emotion-filled one and Azelf's sarcastic one, _where it found Suicune in its cave mourning a great loss. Upon further investigation, it discovered that Entei and Raikou had been captured by a red-haired Trainer wielding a Typhlosion._

 _A red-haired Trainer with a Typhlosion?_ Mew asked.

 _Do you know of that Trainer?_ Cresselia said.

 _I don't know of him, but I have seen him before wandering the Johto region. I tried to read his mind at one point, but his natural resistance is so strong it blindsided me._

 _Where is Arceus? Shouldn't it be corralling these beasts?_ Azelf asked, producing a dry-erase marker from its nether regions and scribbling a handlebar moustache onto Uxie's face.

 _I don't know; it should've been here a while ago,_ Cresselia murmured worriedly. _I hope it's alright._

 _That's the least of our problems,_ Latias said, coming up beside Mew. _Without Arceus, the Legendaries are even more chaotic than usual. We're never going to get anything accomplished, and every second we waste here Entei and Raikou are in more danger._

 _Someone has to take charge,_ Uxie said.

 _That is correct,_ Cresselia agreed. _But no one here has the gall._

Mew slowly revolved, analyzing each Legendary from each region, and realizing that while many had the gall, none had the skills necessary. Namely, the Pokémon would have to be wise—which it was, after millennia of life—and responsible—which, aside from the Aries incident, it was—and authoritative—which was actually the hardest to accomplish for it, but if it managed against Mewtwo, it could against the rest.

It floated above all of the Legendaries before calling, _All attention should be drawn to the sky at this moment!_

There were two seconds more of miscellaneous chatter before all became silent. Mew only felt the slightest spike of trepidation as it faced every Legendary Pokémon in existence; they all looked to it patiently, all except Rayquaza and Keldeo, who seemed far more content to make jokes about it in the background. It looked at Cobalion pleadingly; Cobalion latched its jaws onto Keldeo's tail, pulling it away from Rayquaza.

 _I've just been informed Entei and Raikou were captured,_ Mew started, evoking another round of chatter from the Legendaries. It waited until they silenced and continued, _Our first course of action, of course, is to create a plan to rescue them—_

 _Our first_ course of action _should be storming and obliterating those damn humans!_ Giratina interrupted. Lugia, Regirock, Registeel, Regice, Groudon, Rayquaza, Palkia, Azelf, Zekrom, Heatran, Terrakion, and Keldeo all shouted in assent.

 _No; our first priority should be finding where those two are,_ Latias protested. Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Jirachi, Latios, Mespirit, Uxie, Reshiram, Regigigas, Dialga, and Victini agreed to that.

 _Latias makes a point; you can't even storm the humans' world until you have a clear idea of where you're going,_ Mew said. _Doing so would just cause pandemonium that we don't need. The biggest question is how we're going to acquire this information._

 _I can handle that, no sweat,_ Latios said. _It's simple to turn into a human and get information, and I'm fast enough to get the job done in forty-five seconds. Keldeo! Count for me!_

 _I got you!_ Keldeo replied. It started counting as soon as Latios passed through the portal.

 _Mew._ Mew drifted down to the source of the voice—Suicune. The Aurora Pokémon was sitting away from the other crowding Legendaries, eyes somewhat lugubrious.

 _Worry not Suicune, we will recover the others—_

 _That is not my concern. Entei and Raikou can handle themselves._ Mew looked at it, perplexed. _What I am worried about is who captured them._

 _You know? Why won't you tell the others?_

 _Their teamwork is shoddy, their focus is worse, and, don't take this personally, half of them are incompetent acolytes._

It couldn't have taken it personally, not when it had the same thought several times. _Then tell me. Who captured them?_

Suicune glanced at the other Legendaries, most still arguing about their methods, before answering, _The future heir to Team Rocket, Silver._

 _Silver?_ Mew made a mental note to check for him on its next visit to the human world before recalling that it hadn't gone back and most likely won't ever again, not when it was going to be constantly reminded of Aries. It knew that despite being a Psychic-type, willpower was not one of its strengths; if it did go to the human world, it would go searching, and it would most certainly not return alone, which would defeat the purpose of leaving him there in the first place. Though maybe it wouldn't hurt to just look at him, since he was in such a horrible condition last Mew saw. Maybe it should look, just to have one last image of him healthy and happy burned into its mind…

 _Forty-four!_ Keldeo suddenly shrieked. Latios chose that moment to reappear, reaching mach speed as it zoomed to the center of Arceus' space, a loud shriek resulting from the shattered sound barrier preceding him that attracted every eye in the dimension. _Safe!_ Keldeo grinned.

 _The Trainer's name is Silver!_ he announced, not the least bit out of breath. _He's taking Entei and Raikou to Team Rocket's HQ!_

A loud cacophony ensued, one Mew had to silence with a series of exploding Shadow Balls. _I will be taking three Legendaries to be conspicuous, and those three have to have_ perfect _team chemistry!_ Whatever Pokémon that cawed and howled chose to go silent at that. Mew scanned all of their minds, just skimming the superficial information before hitting the brick wall they all had to protect their thoughts. Luckily, just that information was enough. _Celebi! Victini! Suicune! Let's make haste!_

Suicune took its time getting to its feet as Celebi and Victini cheered, careful to avoid touching lest Victini set Celebi on fire or supercharge it with its infinite energy. Mew fluttered around the dimension before finding the portal to Johto in a small orange star. _Come on!_ it yelled. Celebi was first, flying faster than it appeared to have been capable of and disappearing into the portal with a rain of white sparkles. Victini was second and Suicune was third, pausing a moment to send Mew a sympathetic look.

 _I'm fine,_ it said, though it sounded feeble to itself.

 _The heart is a very delicate thing,_ was all it said before it passed through. Mew couldn't help the scowl that twisted its face as it followed.


	5. 05 Last of the Legends

Mew's first thought was that the transportation failed, since it was very aware of its body but completely swallowed in darkness. Then it heard Celebi's urgent whisper of a thought: _All of you, make yourselves invisible_ now _!_

Mew did so with ease; it was hard to tell since they were, as aforementioned, in the dark, but it could feel the change as its molecules shifted to transparent. _Done,_ Victini said. It felt the air change as Suicune altered the properties of its water vapor, shifting the way the light refracted so it would appear invisible. Mew wasn't sure what Celebi did, but when the light came on and the Trainer entered the room, he displayed no vocal or mental evidence of seeing anything at all.

The Legendaries backed into the corner of the large cubical room, moving out of the way of Pokémon Trainer Silver as he swaggered inside, tailed by his Typhlosion. The room was made of cement—cement walls, cement floors—and was completely solid with no windows or cracks. In the center of it, Entei and Raikou were bound by heavy violet chains latched to the ground. He chuckled, looking at both of them as they glared back at him.

"I thought that Pops would've awarded me a plaque for this," he said, standing so close to Raikou he was almost within biting distance. "I mean, it's not every day that two Legendaries are singlehandedly captured."

 _How are they being held by human chains?_ Victini asked, carefully omitting its thoughts from Silver's mind. _They should be easy to escape._

 _I can sense that they're not made of mundane metal,_ Celebi replied. _It's more like…_

 _Congealed Toxic,_ Mew finished.

 _Then why and how are we in here!?_ A note of urgency crept into Victini's voice.

 _I can keep the air around us mostly pure through photosynthesis, as a Grass-type,_ Celebi answered. _But we really should leave soon, because the effects will start working on us if we stay here too long._

 _Not without them,_ Suicune protested, and that ended their conversation. That, and the fact that Silver's eyes met Victini's, despite it being invisible.

"What?" his Typhlosion grumbled, appearing somewhat perplexed. Silver raised and dropped his shoulder in a shrug before returning his attention to Entei and Raikou. That made Mew a bit curious; how could he, a human, understand a Pokémon's speech? They must have been very close.

"I really, truly despise Team Rocket, even though it's Pops' _treasured_ mafia…" He closed his eyes, a small conflict raging in his psyche as he drew a long and narrow tube from his pocket. It was incredible that even though he had the malice to capture and chain and poison Legendary Pokémon, he had the ethics to regret it, however slightly. And that _slightly_ was a very small amount indeed, hence the smallness of his conflict. "Oh, well, what's done is done." Just like that, the battle of goodwill ended on a horrible note as he raised the tube to his mouth and, before any Legendary could react, blew a small syringe into Raikou's side and Entei's hind leg. The two appeared bemused for a moment before collapsing to the ground in a heap, a few dying howls filling the air.

 _No!_ Suicune lost its cool—a very rare occurrence for it—and regained its visibility, leaping upon Silver with jaws wide in preparation to tear his head from his body; however, Typhlosion was a hundred times faster, surrounding his body in electricity as he surged forward, tackling Suicune like a pro and sending it flying back into the wall with a bone-crunching _thud!_

"I knew I saw something," Silver smirked. "Turns out it's the last in the set." Mew's mind was racing; a human seeing through their illusion? That meant he was not your run-of-the-mill Trainer; it meant that he was far, far stronger.

 _What did you do to them?_ Suicune snapped, instantly getting to its feet and snarling at Typhlosion, who mimicked Silver's self-satisfied expression.

"You'll find out," he grinned, snapping his fingers. His Typhlosion snorted, shaking his head and thinking Suicune wasn't worth his time. "Typhlosion, c'mon, I'm going to complain to _daddy_."

Typhlosion sauntered past Suicune, intentionally kicking its leg as he went. However, Suicune was more concerned with its fellow Legendaries, running to Entei's side and kneeling at the chains. _Suicune—_ Mew started, but Suicune's sudden coughing fit interrupted it. Suicune skittered backwards, its tails flicking as if sensing something abnormal in the air. _Toxic,_ Mew reminded Suicune.

 _Entei,_ Suicune pressed, relentless even as each step forward deepened the grimace on its face and its thin body to tremble in venomous agony. _Raikou… Say something…_ It coughed, a few drops of a clear, almost iridescent substance splattering on the ground.

 _You're bleeding,_ Celebi noted, unable to draw closer lest the poisonous material corrode its plantlike system beyond repair. Suicune dragged a paw across its mouth, coughing again.

 _En—Entei—Ra—Rai—please—say—say something—one of you—please—_

Mew watched it continue ineffectively like that until Suicune fell back, weak. It reminded Mew of itself, how feeble it was after leaving Aries. It drifted closer before halting, sensing more than feeling the change in the air as the toxic metal drained Suicune. It reached out and closed its mental grip around the chains binding Entei, feeling the instant nausea and weakness it brought, and broke it down on a molecular level. The metal instantly snapped, falling to the ground. Celebi set to work on healing Entei while Mew attempted to release Raikou, finding that the chains' toxicity was affecting not only Mew's body but mental abilities as well.

 _We have to get out of here,_ Celebi said, coaxing Suicune until it could walk forward without toppling again. Mew groaned as it snapped Raikou's chains; Celebi helped at that point, carrying both with Psychic. One of them must've called Palkia, because a dark hole manifested in the wall. Victini bounded through with ease, Celebi carefully taking Entei and Raikou with it and leaving Suicune and Mew to pass through.

 _Something is wrong,_ it said to Mew, blood dribbling from the corner of its mouth.

 _Obviously! Entei and Raikou were captured by a single human!_

 _No, not that; it's what that human did to them that concerns me._

 _What? Do you mean that syringe?_ Mew scratched its head. _I don't recall seeing anything abnormal with their body or organ systems, so it must've been a fluke._

 _No…_ Suicune's expression was grave. _There is no way that was a fluke. I could see Silver's pride very clearly in his eyes; whatever he did, it_ worked _._

 _But we have no idea_ what _he did._

 _Exactly. That is cause for worry, is it not?_

Mew sighed. _I'm a little more worried about Silver himself than what he did to Entei and Raikou, to be completely frank. No normal everyday Trainer can singlehandedly capture two Legendaries, neither can the everyday Trainer see through our deception. His Typhlosion, too, if it could take you down. Something about him is different, and it isn't the good kind of different either. It's the_ different _that leads to_ dangerous _._

 _What do you propose we do?_

 _I don't… I have no idea,_ it admitted. _My focus has been a little split since I arrived._

Suicune glanced at the portal, a pensive expression crossing its face. _Go._

 _Go? What do you mean?_

 _I'm afraid you know exactly what I mean. Go; I will cover for you._

Mew was hesitant as half of Suicune's body passed through the portal. _Thank you!_ it said quickly, only receiving a grunt in return. However, that grunt was the most beautiful thing it had ever heard.

* * *

The sad part was that though it wanted to see Aries, it had no idea where to look. He was in Snowpoint last it saw, but humans tended to move often, unwilling to stay in the same place for too long, which it never understood; it never tired of watching nature, so how did the humans? Maybe they were too occupied in the Pokémon game and their busy lives to appreciate what the Legendaries worked so hard to create?

It was roaming Mahogany Town—where Entei and Raikou were being held, believe it or not—when it came across Silver again. He was hanging out in front of the souvenir shop in the center of the town, munching on what Mew heard was called a RageCandyBar. His Typhlosion was nearby, fraternizing with a female Blaziken who, based on what Mew heard from her thoughts, wouldn't care for him at all if his Trainer wasn't so eminent.

"Sir!" a perspiring, red-faced older man came bursting through the doors, running to Silver's side. Silver looked at him like a pesky insect that wouldn't go away. "We've found something very interesting, sir!"

"Eh? Unless it's a Legendary, I'm good," he said between bites.

"No, but it's the second best thing, I promise you!"

"Hm?" he looked at the man in interest. The man murmured something, something Mew was able to hear perfectly as it peered into his mind.

 _"_ _There's a boy—Aristotle something-or-other—that has visited the world of the Legendary Pokémon!"_

Mew fought to hold its invisibility as Silver smirked, finishing off his snack and crumpling the foil in his fist. "Are you sure it's not just propaganda?"

"No! The boy had an Alakazam and Slowking monitoring him as he relayed the story to the local police; it's all legit!"

"Ain't that something else. Now how did he get there?" He sounded casual, but his thoughts were far from it; a greedy interest had overtaken his mind, chilling Mew to the bone.

"That's what we're going to find out. We know where to find him." The man seemed proud to have found all of this out. Silver straightened, waving his Typhlosion over.

"Then don't hold back. Tell me where he is and I'll get the brat myself."

The man smiled evilly. "The Lake of Rage."

Mew probably broke all speed records getting to the Lake of Rage; in the moment it takes to blink an eye, it was high above its cool blue waters, watching a crimson Gyrados thrash at the edge and glare up at it. "What the hell are you doing, trespassing in my water? I don't care if you're a Legendary or what, you're not allowed—"

 _Is a boy here?_ Mew demanded, ignoring his outburst. The Gyrados snorted, raising himself until his eyes were level with Mew's.

"Why the hell should I answer you?" Gyrados snapped, filling its mind with images of pink Donphan to spite it.

 _I am at the end of my patience, you fool,_ Mew snapped, having been left zero tolerance for hindrances. _If you do not answer me I will quite literally make a Hell out of your life; you'll be begging Arceus to end you when I'm done. Now_ answer my question.

Gyrados' cocky expression morphed into one of pure terror. To be honest, Mew felt awful about threatening the poor guy like that, but its concern for Aries trumped its individual emotions. "T-there," he stuttered, a whisker indicating a small cabin hidden in the trees in the corner of the lake. Not a second later he disappeared into the water so fast the splash probably drowned more than a few Grass-types, but Mew was more concerned with its current task. It sped down to the cabin's front door and psychically snapped the tumblers in the lock, pushing it open.

"Look who's the slow one," Silver commented, his voice overshadowing Mew's gasp. It truly realized how fast he was, how smart he was, when there was no evidence of his entrance, when it was completely unable to sense his presence like it was— _Aries_. Aries was half-curled up on the floor, blood trickling from a thin cut on his forehead and matting his long hair. Silver's Typhlosion was looking a little too proud of himself as it smirked at his Trainer. "I was just about to make tea while I was waiting."

Only he could be so familiar with a Legendary Pokémon, Mew thought to itself, but was too stunned to "voice" it. "I can tell by that look on your face that you're not used to being one-upped like this," he continued, taking Aries up in his arms. Mew wanted to charge him, to smash his smug little face in, but found itself very still, anticipating his words. "It's a funny feeling, isn't it? Feeling utterly powerless, dwarfed by something greater…" A nostalgic expression crossed his face, followed by one of anger, but both disappeared without a trace. "Well, I never thought I'd be facing the Ancient Pokémon Mew and having a light conversation like this—" It's really anything _but_ light, Mew thought, "—but I'm a little more impressed by the fact that you've yet to make a move on me. C'mon, take your best shot. Just remember…" He swung Aries a little for emphasis, causing him to moan weakly.

Scum _,_ Mew thought. It apparently transferred too, because Silver began laughing.

"'s not my fault," he chuckled. "Blame my dad; I got all my scum-ness from him."

 _Why are you so intent on finding the Legendaries? What possible purpose could you have? What did you do to Entei and Raikou?_

"That's a little too much," he said, feigning shock. "I'm feeling pretty generous right now, so I'll answer _one_. Make your choice."

 _Why are you so intent on getting to the Legendaries?_

"Hm… I wouldn't say that was the best question for you to have asked, but I'll answer it anyway. It's your choice. The reason why I'm after the Legendary Pokémon is simple, petty even—recognition."

 _You—_ recognition? Mew couldn't tell what was more prominent, its shock or anger.

"Yeah, I'll be that guy who beat the creators of this world; sounds pretty damn awesome to me."

It barely noticed its body shaking in fury. _You, Silver, are the pettiest, foulest, most self-conceited human I've ever met—and that's a lot of competitors, if you don't realize._

"Like I said, blame my dad." He said that, but something was in his eyes, something that said his reasons were not all that he stated. "If you'd excuse me, it's kind of a long walk back to the shop—"

 _You're not going anywhere with him._ Mew slammed the door shut telekinetically, holding Silver and his Typhlosion in place.

"Scary," he commented dryly, which astounded Mew further; he should hardly have been able to breathe, let alone talk.

 _The normal man_ would _be scared._

"As luck would have it, I'm not the normal man." Suddenly he snapped free, running past Mew while it was still surprised and through the door. Mew started after him but was interrupted as his Typhlosion leapt in front of it, growling and flaming.

 _How did you break free?_ it asked, flustered. Typhlosion didn't answer.

"It'd be smart of you to give up," he taunted. "Silver's not your average Joe; you'd be better off runnin' back to your safe little dimension or whatever."

Mew didn't answer; it instead charged forward, a Hydro Cannon ready for him. He swept to the side quickly, but, peering into his mind, it expected that, spinning and dealing the attack to the chest. Typhlosion caught it between his palms, smashing it until it exploded in a spray of steam and particles. "That's not good enough!" he said, opening his mouth and releasing a torrent of red-gold flames. Point-blank, Mew's only option was Protect; the bubble protected it from the damage but not the raw power, forcing it through the wall of the cabin and onto the grass outside. It regained its footing just as Typhlosion came barreling through the hole in the wall he made, fist cocked back and ready to strike.

It leapt into the air just as he reached breathing distance; Typhlosion, completely undeterred, spun on his heel, switching directions and attacks like it was second nature. Mew found it twice as hard to dodge the Brick Break coming its way, and triply to evade Typhlosion's following Shadow Claw. At his fourth attack—Power-Up Punch—Mew fell to the ground, completely open to him. He grinned as he released another Flamethrower, one that felt doubly as powerful as the original and left Mew burned and weakened.

"Good thing you're not a Physical-attacker, 'cause you'd be damned," he said. It dragged itself to the air, sputtering smoke like an antique automobile. "What's the problem? Can't take the heat?"

Mew blinked, watching Silver release a Crobat and climb onto his back. It moved forward, prepared to stop him, but Typhlosion cut it off, striking it with Brick Break. Mew hit the ground and bounced twice before coming to a stop, breathless and aching. "What's the matter, huh?" he taunted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought you were the big bad Legendary Pokémon Mew; how're you losin' to a weak little starter like me?"

It made it to the air, albeit slower than before, and Typhlosion just as easily knocked it down again, this time with a regular fist to the face. _I don't understand,_ Mew whispered; even its mental voice was weak. _How are you so fast? So strong? So merciless?_

"That's easy to answer." A smirk identical to Silver's crossed his face. "Learned it all from him. I mean, just lookin' at him, you can tell he's a pretty strong guy. Heartless, too. But he's twice as strong and heartless to his Pokémon; he trained us himself, putting us through Hell day after day until he was sure that we'd be unbeatable and even the great Legendaries couldn't lay a hand on us."

Mew peered into his mind; his words were the truth, as true as the burning pain and soul-shattering haranguing they received from their awed Trainer. It always knew that not all humans were kind, that some were brutal to their Pokémon, but that was far worse than anything Mew witnessed. _Even so… You still obey him?_

He shrugged. "Tough love. We fear him, but at the same time, best Trainer ever."

"Typhlosion, hurry up!" Silver's Crobat screeched as Silver settled on his back. Typhlosion snorted, grabbing Mew around its neck.

"I'd say it was a pleasure meeting you but, well, you know." He pulled his fist back and struck, stunning Mew with a burst of light in its peripheral vision before everything turned black.

* * *

At first, Mew thought it was still unconscious, but it realized that the darkness it saw was caused by the clouds covering the moon on a starless night. Night, it thought, stumbling as it got to its feet. I was out for six hours. In a flash of pain, it remembered all that had happened. It tried to call Palkia to make a portal back to its dimension—it could use Celebi's healing powers there and return here to find Silver and/or Aries—but it only received static, which thoroughly confused it. It tried twice more before giving up, weary from the effort. It tried to fly but that attempt also fell flat—literally. It was trying to get up again when that agonizingly familiar voice broke through the silence of the night.

"You look worse for the wear, Mew," Mewtwo commented, sitting in front of it. It tried to communicate—talk, think, whatever—but didn't have the energy to amuse him. "Oh, can't speak, can you?" it asked. It waited a few moments for the response that never came before continuing, "Well, that's a relief, actually. I have a story for you and I'm not in the mood for interruptions. Okay, here it is.

"Once upon a time, there was a determined, curious, impulsive Pokémon named—well, let's not worry about inconsequential details like names. The point is, this Pokémon—the aforementioned curious and impulsive Pokémon—retrieved a human from a destroyed town, a human called—oh, yes, no names for now—and took him to its home like any stray, planning to feed him and groom him and teach him as if he was truly a stray." He smirked at Mew's stricken expression. "I can tell you're feeling a lot of déjà vu, but I promise you this is simply a story. A very realistic one, if anything.

"Later, this Pokémon learned the error of its ways and realized how wrong it is to capture a human and hold them like some sort of pet. This Pokémon, with this sudden change of heart, returned the human to his home after nearly causing his death in the arctic. At that point, it returned to its home, distraught but somewhat pleased with itself—oh, not quite pleased, to correct myself. Instead, it missed having a human to play with, to ask questions, to keep. You might want to prepare yourself, Mew, because the story takes a darker turn from here.

"Friends of this Pokémon were captured by a haughty and rotten but admittedly glorious Pokémon Trainer. This Trainer was a human of a caliber never seen by the Pokémon, someone immune to all mental advances and rotten down to its protons and electrons. The Pokémon went to rescue its friends, where they were, hmm, let's call it _infected_ —" Its smirk evolved into a grin at Mew's shock, "—by something of this Trainer's devising. Ignorant, this Pokémon returned the infected Pokémon to its home, where, under the rotten-slash-glorious Trainer's commands, they will carry out his orders, unhindered since the others cannot fight their so-called friends." Mewtwo held up a finger as Mew scrambled to its feet. "I'm not done yet, child.

"And while that happens, while those two Pokémon perform an order _I have not yet disclosed_ , don't get so worked up over a very unspecific statement—I'd call that one of your faults, jumping to conclusions so quickly—that Trainer was in a private room with his Alakazam and that boy the Pokémon so easily tossed away, forcing valuable information out of him that this curious and impulsive Pokémon should have been cautious enough to erase. And fast-forwarding to the present, this gloriously rotten Trainer has all the information he needs to complete his quest, all at the cost of a six-year-old boy's life." It looked at Mew calmly. "What is it, Mew? You appear as if you have something to say or do. Come on, do you need help? Don't be afraid to ask; we do, after all, share DNA. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel somewhat partial to you; it's the only reason I came here to divulge all of this information, and the only reason I continue to go out of my way to offer you advice. Hah, if only you would heed it."

What? Yes, I do. It was just a thought, not even expressed, but Mewtwo either read its expression or somehow read its mind which, if the bit about them sharing DNA was true, wasn't quite implausible.

"Hah! If you did, you wouldn't be in the current fix! I told you a while ago to investigate Mahogany Town, and you, grief-stricken by returning your pet to his natural habitat, did not. If you had, you could have long since realized Silver's intent and ended him right there, and the Legendary Pokémon would not be in this situation."

 _Situation?_ Finally, Mew had the energy to speak. Mewtwo smirked, raising its right index finger.

"Yes; it's quite a sticky one, at that." Its finger glowed with magenta light as it waved it up and down, marking the air with a bright pink aura. Then its eyes glowed scarlet as the energy zoomed away, spinning through the air like a pink-red blade until it sliced straight through the sky, opening a portal to a darker expanse. "Go ahead," it said, rising to its feet. Then it tilted its head in a mix of curiosity and amusement. "Can you even fly, Mew?"

It hoped its replying moan wasn't as weak and feeble as it seemed.

Appearing thoroughly amused, Mewtwo raised its fist, slowly opening it to reveal a pair of ripe Berries. It bent over and pushed one—a Sitrus Berry—into Mew's mouth, ignoring its cry of protest and watching it patiently until it resigned and chewed it a bit with its weak and sore jaws, swallowing. It felt the effects almost immediately, much too fast for it to have been an average Berry. It started to sit up before an intense burning sensation rippled through its muscles; it doubled over, gasping until Mewtwo forced it to close its mouth by shoving a Rawst Berry through its lips. It ate this one faster, swallowing hard and anticipation the moment Typhlosion's flames dissolved and exited its body in a cough of dark smoke.

"Yes, that will do," it said, watching Mew cautiously rise into the air, testing its strength. It found that it not only was at full-power, it even felt a bit stronger than usual. Instead of thanking Mewtwo, it narrowed its eyes.

 _What exactly are your motives, Mewtwo? What do you hope to gain by helping me?_

"Oh! So you finally learned to stop being so naïve," it said. "Well, I can't tell you that."

 _Then tell me why you do these things._

"Hm? Are you referring to speaking to you, which I cannot answer, or the whole picture? If it's the latter, the answer is a bit complicated, even for you. I am, of course, connected to every flow of information in all the regions due to my place of origin—also classified information—and I chose to divulge bits of it to you in the form of concise tips; that is all you need to know. Don't worry, nevertheless; the big picture will reveal itself to you in due time. Time reveals all, Mew, a fact you should be quite aware of as the ancestor of all Pokémon. When the time is right, all will become very clear to you."

 _You're a bad guy, aren't you?_ it asked. _You're the antagonist of this story?_

" _Bad_ is such a loose term," it said flippantly. "As to whether I am the antagonist of this story—nice label for all of this, by the way—let's let time reveal that fact too. I myself am still wondering that. Well, enough light conversation. There's somewhere you must be, and I'd hasten myself if I were you—which, coincidentally, I am, so you should listen." It pointed at the portal, a placid expression resting on its similar face. Mew hesitated, completely unwilling to drop the conversation at that, but finding no other option than to pass through the portal.

Mewtwo's portal, while still leading to the Legendaries' dimension, was different, colder and emptier. It shivered a bit as it passed through into the wide expanse of space, then shivered again, worse, as it took in the bloody scene before it. "Oh, look who finally showed up," Silver grinned, tugging Aries' hand to bring him forward. He instead hid behind his legs, hair obscuring his face as he trembled. "Sneasel, manners. Greet our _friend_."

"Do you taste as crappy as the rest of these guys?" his Sneasel asked, grimacing as he dropped a limb torn into unrecognizable ribbons.

"Aristotle, you too," Silver sighed. "Afraid to face your old captor? Or are you ashamed to have given away her home's location?"

"Mew—" Aries cut himself off, ducking his head behind Silver's leg.

"Cute kid," he said. "Quiet, but pretty damn smart. I can use him, which is the only reason I didn't have Team Rocket deal with him." _Deal with_ was as heavy as stone.

 _Why?_ Mew's thoughts finally focused to a point. Silver's lip curled back a bit, as if he was enraged by the question.

" _Why_ , you ask? Haven't we already been over this? You know why I did it, you're just in denial. You thought I was another bratty human that'd just get his comeuppance, didn't you? I'll admit, I might've, if Entei and Raikou hadn't paved the way for me." He stuck his fingers in his mouth and released a shrill whistle; the two red-splattered dogs bounded to his side, poised for any order he might give.

 _Entei, Raikou…_

"I injected them with some Team Rocket-brand nanobots." He petted Raikou's head; Raikou could've been a statue for how much he responded. "Those guys are weak trash, but they do make strong stuff; it'll even get Legendaries under your control. I'd thank Pops, but he'd just shake me off like always."

"Watch your step," Sneasel sneered. Mew clapped its hands over its mouth, fighting the urge to gag as it raked its eyes over the lifeless bodies of its many friends—from Ho-Oh to Suicune to Celebi to Regice to Dialga to Zekrom to Yveltal, all still and without breath and—and—and— _dead_. Every last one of them.

"You know," Silver said genially, "all I did was bite big guy over there, giving him nanobots, and self-destructed them in his blood vessels; after that, the others dropped like flies."

 _Arceus,_ it whispered, feeling its blood run cold as it met the eyes of the other Pokémon. The Alpha Pokémon, the one it had reported to for millennia, its strict-yet-somewhat-sympathetic guardian, was lying on its side, its hooves scrabbling weakly and eyes shifting all around. Mew hovered to it in a dazed state.

 _I knew it,_ it muttered, voice so low Mew had to focus completely to hear it. _That human… It was a bad idea._

 _Arceus, don't talk—_

 _This is why…humans…are not to be…trusted…but… There is something you…should know…Mew… There is…_ Arceus' voice faded, and Mew watched as the light in its eyes went out.

 _Arceus… No, what were you going to say? Please don't be dead… The world would be lost without you…_ I'd _be lost without you…_ Mew noticed it was babbling, but it had to to alleviate the crushing grief on its heart. _Come on… I'm sorry for always causing you trouble… I'm sorry for taking your Grass and Dark plates that time to play with with Latios… I'm sorry that I'm the worst Legendary ever—I'll even make a written confession, just please please_ please _don't die Arceus…_

"This is so sweet," Silver commented dryly. Mew turned to him, wanting to smash every bone in his body with Psychic, but again finding itself powerless against his natural resistance. Apparently, the darkness in him doubled as a Dark-type.

 _You can't begin to fathom how much turmoil the world—no, the_ universe _will be in without the Legendaries controlling it. Especially Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, who keep the time, space, and nothingness of the world in perfect balance._

"Oh, I do fathom it, and I'm perfectly calm about it."

 _Why is that, exactly?_

"That's for me to know and you _not_ to find out, but take my word for it when I say that the world'll only fall apart on _my_ watch." He jabbed a thumb at himself before running his hand through his hair. "Ah, anyway, I have to run. Dead bodies reek after a while, you know? Aries, show me the way out."

Aries' eyes locked with Mew's. "I… No, I can't…"

"What? 'Cause your old master's near you suddenly lost your nerve? You were fine about showing me the way here to deal with these guys in the first place." He grabbed Aries' arm roughly, bringing him forward. "You better show me the way out, or else your friend pays." He jerked his chin at Mew, who cringed and shrunk back.

"No!" he exclaimed, eyes wide. He pulled free from Silver's grasp and shoved him in the stomach, unable to reach any higher. Silver began to laugh but stopped, face twisted into an expression of shock as he flew back five feet—not exactly _flew_ , but his feet were three inches into the air—before slamming the soles of his boots on the "ground," just barely regaining his footing. Aries blinked, obviously surprised, as Silver clenched his teeth.

"Sneasel, Quick Attack," he ground out. His Sneasel seemed jubilant as he lurched forward, his speed so great only the splashing puddles of blood leaving evidence of him as he raced towards Aries. He just stared, his show of telekinesis turned useless at the Dark-type, and would've been cut to bits if Mew hadn't grabbed his collar, pulling him to the side. He hit the ground hard, blood splattering on his white shirt and matting his hair, while the Sneasel slipped—Mew had to suppress a small laugh at that—and crashed into Registeel's body, losing his wits for a moment from the impact.

"Mew—" he started, breathless, tears springing into the corners of his eyes.

 _I know,_ it interrupted. _You felt like I betrayed you, and now you feel like you betrayed me._

"How do you know?"

 _Because I understand you. I have understood you for a few years._ It frowned, tugging him to his feet as Sneasel stood a few paces away, annoyed that they dodged. _But how did you use Psychic on Silver? From what I know, he is immune to Psychic-type moves._

"I don't know!" he gasped, trembling. "I was terrified, and something in my brain—clicked—and—well, I can't put it into words—"

He couldn't describe it, but Mew could. _It's an energy field, isn't it? An expanse where the only thing that exists is energy, the energy of the animate and the inanimate, and you exerted enough mental force to manipulate its natural flow, shifting its position from one place to another._ The metaphysical was a hard concept to swallow, but it believed Aries was smart enough to comprehend it.

"I don't know how you did it," Silver said, frowning at the bloody handprints on his shirt, "but you won't do it again, that's for sure. Sneasel, see if you can find an exit while my _friends_ deal with these two." Sneasel took off, inspecting every star in the vicinity. Silver, meanwhile, snapped his fingers, immediately bringing Entei and Raikou to his side. He pointed at Mew and Aries; the dogs growled simultaneously before speeding forward, identical bestial expressions on their faces as they prepared the Flamethrower and Thunderbolt of the century.

"Mew—" Aries started, breaking off as Mew used Protect. Their attacks bounced off of the shield easily, forcing them to a stop as they reevaluated the situation. "This is bad; they're under Silver's control, but they still have enough consciousness to strategize."

 _Aries, I want you to leave._

"What?" he exclaimed. Mew cringed as Raikou surrounded itself with lightning and rammed into the bubble futilely before backing off, Entei repeating the process with fire.

 _I know that you want to help, and you most likely can again Silver, but this is_ my _problem, Aries, and I don't want anyone else involved._ _Can you understand that?_ He shook his head almost petulantly. _I thought you wouldn't._

"Then what? How can I help?"

Mew grimaced as Raikou's next charge created a large crack in the barrier. _Remember how before, during meditation, I explained to you that most Pokémon attacks are simply a manipulation of the energy field around us? I want you to manipulate that energy now, as you did with Silver, and maintain this barrier around us._

"You'll trust me with that, even after I brought Silver here?"

 _He forced the information out of you._

"That's not it! In Snowpoint, I was mad that you left me, and I—"

 _The_ why _doesn't matter to me. This whole situation is my fault, and one way or another I'll resolve it._

"Mew—"

 _Aries._ This time, Mew couldn't help the heart-wrenching sorrow in its tone. _Don't die on me, too._

As succinct as that thought was, Aries understood it perfectly. He slowly raised his arms, palms flat, and closed his eyes in concentration. It released its hold on the barrier just as tentatively, watching Entei light itself on fire in preparation to attack again. It latched onto Entei psychically without hesitation, deepening its mental hold until it gripped Entei down to its atoms. It was immensely hard to control one with as strong a will as Entei, but Mew somehow managed, preparing to toss it back into Raikou when a sudden force slammed into their barrier. Aries cried out as it shattered into bits of energy, both of them falling.

"Good, almost praise-worthy," Silver jeered, his Sneasel returning to his side. The small Pokémon pointed at a bluish-purple star low to the ground, crying, "There! There's the way out!"

"I'll let myself out, then," he said, producing a small black remote-like object from his front pocket. "Be lucky; I'm deciding to spare you two."

 _Spare us? Why?_ Mew asked. _Me especially; I believed you were after_ every _Legendary Pokémon._

"Well, yes, I was, but coming here I came to a decision: you're much too interesting to eliminate right now. I'll leave you to your own devices, whether it's revenge or controlling the world or whatever. Him, too," he added, indicating Aries with a jerk of his chin. "I like the kid, as much of a cheeky and rude brat he is; it'd be nice to see him on Team Silver, but if he wants to join Team Legendary, hey, I'm not his daddy."

"That's it, then?" Aries asked. "After all this, you'll just leave us? How do you know Mew isn't just going to kill you immediately?"

"Because she/I can't," Mew and Silver said synchronously. "Well there it is," he continued. "The greatest Legendary in the universe can't touch me, a very average Trainer. How's that for a wake-up call?"

 _I wouldn't say_ average, Mew said deprecatorily, but Silver carried on.

"Now, like I said, I'll let you two go. The world's full of weak people and it's really very sickening to me; you, though, Aristotle, can change that. You're the first person besides Sabrina to have psychic powers, and you learned them straight from _the_ Psychic-type. I'd love to see how you turn out in some years; maybe you can even be a challenge for me. I mean, none of these guys were—" he swept his hand across the air to indicate the deceased Legendaries, "—so hey, let's see, let's see."

 _You're rotten,_ Mew repeated. He grinned, undeterred.

"It's those around us that shape who we are as people. Maybe if you were there to intervene in my childhood, then I wouldn't be so—what's the word?— _rotten_." He rolled his eyes and sighed, contradicting the gravity of his tone. "I can read your expression very well, Mew. 'I'm patiently waiting for the day you get your wake-up call.' Truth is, I already got it, which is why I'm doing _this_ now." He pressed a button on the device. "I hope we meet again," he smirked before running forward with Sneasel at his side, both disappearing through the portal.

Entei suddenly howled, a blood-curdling sound that ripped through the air until blood bubbled up and poured past its teeth, cutting it off. It fell onto its side just as Raikou suffered the same fate, falling back on its hind legs as it drowned in its blood. Mew tried to move closer, attempting to comfort them in any way it could, but Aries grabbed its tail, holding it back. It was about to yell at him before he shook his head and it realized that no matter what it did, they would still suffer everyone else's fate.

"They're gone," he said, his voice piercing through the noise of Mew's mind. It blinked, coming back to awareness and realizing that his words were true; all the bodies of the Legendaries had vanished, leaving only rapidly-drying bodily fluids.

 _Their bodies were formed from energy, and now that their souls are extinguished the vessels have returned to energy,_ it said neutrally.

"Are they dead forever?"

 _No; they will return in time. Legendaries were brought on in the first place by humans' wishes; humans wished for rain, for instance, and Lugia was manifested; they wished for the cessation of natural disasters, and Suicune, Entei, and Raikou were manifested. When the world begins to fail—as Silver superciliously believes it won't "on his watch"—then the humans' prayers will revive them._

He blinked, then squinted a bit, looking as if it was a trial to look Mew in the eyes. "That theory is true? That deities are created by humans' wishes?"

 _It seems so._

"But what about the world in the meantime? There aren't any Legendaries to control that stuff for the time being, so what will happen to us?"

 _I do not know; meditation can only give so many answers._

He sat back, rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands. "Really, I don't know how you can stand me. If it wasn't for me—"

 _Silver is a very smart Trainer,_ Mew argued. _One way or another, he would have found his way here. I don't blame you at all; you're just a human child._

"A weak, defenseless human child," he murmured dejectedly, blinking and looking up. "What do we do now? Silver is still out there, unhindered… The Legendaries can't fight him…"

 _The Legendary_ Pokémon, it corrected. _I believe another Legendary can._

He blinked again, bemused, until he caught on. " _Me?_ "

 _While you're not confident in your abilities as a human, Aristotle, you do have very great capabilities as a Legendary. I can hardly harm Silver, yet you did so, showing me up, the ancestor of all Pokémon. If you can do that with the little ability you have now, imagine training to hone it._ Mew took his hand. _Silver is a threat as dangerous as Deoxys, potentially worse, even, with his ruthless attitude and just-as-so Pokémon. But you, Aries… I really hate to ask this of you since you're just a human child, but—_

"I'm not."

 _Pardon?_

"I'm not 'just a human'—at least, I don't want to be." He looked up at the stars overhead. "Everyone wants to be great, to have their name remembered; that's why they have Pokémon Champions, Elite Four, the Frontier Leaders, et cetera. Adults like to think I don't understand because I'm 'just a kid,' but the truth is, I know how people work better than they themselves know, just from reading books. And I realized that…even though I don't want to give up on Silver personally, but I also don't want to leave him to hurt people like he's doing now. After Deoxys, I don't think there should be any more deaths."

 _Is that an agreement?_

He didn't answer; he simply smiled.


	6. 11 Pokemon Trainer Blue

There really wasn't very much to be said of Pewter City besides the obvious—brown, rocky, and oh-so-what's the word? Oh, yeah. Oh-so-freaking- _primal_.

Denise thought this as she slumped over the polished glass counter of her store. She believed that a Fossil store in the archeology center of Kanto (STONE.Z, a name of her little brother's creation and not her own, otherwise it would've been a lot smarter) would bring plenty of business and allow her to break away from the family profession and travel around as a Trainer as she wanted (Trainers' expenses were quite amazing, she realized; those guys on T.V. made it seem so easy it was unbelievable) but business was so slow day-by-day that she doubted she'd make it out of there before her thirtieth birthday.

"Cari, Lucario," Henry said, pushing through the glass doors with a cardboard box balanced on his shoulder. Denise smiled at him, brushing a loose lock of dark hair from her eyes.

"Thanks Henry; is that the new shipment of Claw Fossils?"

"Lu," he nodded. She pointed to indicate a spot near the door; he set it down gently, immediately returning to her side after. She scratched behind his ear, remembering how he loved the gesture since he was a Riolu. He sighed and pushed his head into her palm.

"When are we gonna get out of here?" she murmured sadly. As if on cue, he barked as one of the daily passersby on the sidewalk approached the doors. "What is it? A customer?"

No sooner than after she said it, a cloaked figure pushed through the doors and moved to the counter, the little brass bell ringing as they shut. Denise looked up, lips slightly parted in wonder. It was rare to have visitors uninterested in the Gym show up, let alone shady visitors. A growl built in Henry's throat as he clenched his paws; she placed a calming hand on his shoulder, leaning forward until she was eye-to-eye with the visitor.

"Whatever you want, I can't help you with that hood on," she said calmly but commandingly. "I know you didn't just happen to run in here since this place is between two larger buildings; we're pretty insignificant. Whatever purpose you have, you gotta fulfill it while I can see your face."

The person sort of grunted low enough for Denise to peg him as a _him_. He slowly reached up and drew the navy hood back. "Is this better?" he asked in a very soft voice.

"Y-yes," she stuttered, moving back until her back hit the shelf behind her. He had pale skin that sure as hell wasn't indigenous to the-Sun-hates-us Pewter and wavy dirty-blond hair that fell to his shoulders. Then his eyes were like crystals, changing color every time the light hit it at a different angle; at that moment, they were bright green. He looked away from her and at Henry, nodding at him.

"Your friend here really loves you," he said.

"Um yeah," she stammered, not the least bit relaxed. "W-what do you need?" she asked, trying to calm her shaking voice and trying to sound more inviting. Something about him was just so…unnerving.

"Hm?" He looked amused by her reaction. "I almost forgot. A bit hard to remember with such a pretty girl," he murmured, resting his elbows on the glass and cradling his face in his hands.

"N-no," she laughed nervously. "I'm not."

"I disagree. Well, I digress; I came here for a Fire Stone."

"Fire Stone?" It took her a few seconds to remember what that was. "But… I'm sorry, this is a _Fossil_ store."

"Oh?" He blinked slowly, his face falling a little. "That's too bad."

"Yeah, it is."

"No, I mean your friend, Henry." He nodded at Henry, who seemed a bit startled to have been addressed. "You know, since he's unable to use Psychic-type moves."

She and Henry gasped. "How could you possibly know that?" she demanded, her initial anxiety and suspicion doubling. He blinked very slowly; Denise noticed that he had long eyelashes, like a girl. Actually, he was a lot like a girl, with his pale skin and shortness and face. She then knew for a fact that he didn't live in Pewter; if he had, he would've gotten beaten up in the schoolyard by the steroid-looking elementary school kids. (Mining stones and working with Rock-types really did wonders for the body.)

"I asked him," he said matter-of-factly. "In his head."

She frowned, starting to think he was crazy. "You can… You can speak mind?"

"It's telepathy, to be specific, and I can do more than that," he shrugged.

"Okay, yeah, I'll pretend that doesn't sound crazy for a minute, but the hospital's mental wing is a few blocks away, just so ya know."

He watched her long enough to make her squirm, uncomfortable. "Your name is Denise," he finally said. "You're five-foot-six and your favorite snack is rock candy."

"So? I'm pretty well-known."

"Lu," Henry sighed.

"You also have a collection of _My Little Ponyta: Pokémon is Magic_ DVDs."

"W-What? No I don't," she snapped, flushing at Henry's surprised laughter. "How the hell do you know?" she hissed.

"I see it in your head," he answered. Okay, so maybe he wasn't so crazy, but the idea of someone reading minds other than Sabrina was.

"Can you, um, use the power of suggestion?"

"It works better on Pokémon, but on people? Yes."

"Could you kind of _persuade_ people to come here and buy something?" she asked.

"I don't like pushing people to do things they're not likely to."

"What? Are you saying you don't think they'll come here?" she asked more than a little heatedly.

"I'm sorry; have I angered you?" He looked up at her like a kicked puppy, leaving her no other option than to pity him.

"No, you're right anyway; business sucks."

"It truly does," he smirked. _Smirked?_

"You little faker!" she accused. He just shrugged, irking her even more. "Get the hell out of my damn store!"

"I won't. I have a sort of insight, you see, and I can— _hey!_ " His voice suddenly broke from its song into a screeching note as he grabbed fistfuls of his cloak and pulled, yanking it free from the buttons that bound it. A wriggling and sticky white mess fell onto the countertop. "Can you _stop doing that_?" he demanded.

Denise shied away from the thing until she realized it was a Wurmple. It squirmed on the counter, making a huge mess of its webs on the glass that Denise just cleaned before stilling. "You're cleaning that, you know?" she said to him. He shrugged. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm visiting for personal reasons," he said. "My name's Aristotle."

"Sounds familiar."

"It's an old philosopher," he explained.

"No, I swear it was on T.V. or something…"

"I gave a name," he interrupted, though not at all rudely. "I'd expect one in return. Common courtesy."

"Denise," she answered, purposely rude, flicking a bit of hair away from her face. "Which you already know, Mr. Mind-Reader."

"Ah," he smiled, not affected at all. "But I wanted to hear you say it, because it's a very lovely name." She flushed a little, which was obviously the reaction he expected. She pegged him as somewhat—no, more than somewhat of a schmoozer, like those door-to-door salesmen Dee and Derrick always fell for.

"Um, yeah, can't do anything for you, but I'd be _happy—_ " she grimaced, "—to help you look for a Fire Stone. I know a guy that can get it for you." Anything to get you the hell outta here, she thought. He raised his eyebrows, although she wasn't sure if it was because of her words or her thought.

"Is that so?"

"Yes." Please just get out, she thought.

"Well then, thank you for the help." He scooped the Wurmple into his arms; it cried out a bit, squirming and twisting in his grip.

"Wait!" she yelled as he started to leave.

"Is my presence suddenly more welcome, Denise?" he asked, highly amused.

"No you dolt," she snapped, pointing at the counter and spreading her hands. "You didn't clean your damn mess up."

He was still smiling, except it had become bitterer. "You're quite the catch, aren't you?" he murmured.

"Yes, yes I am, now wipe this crap off before I use your face to do it. I just cleaned this counter and _you'll_ be damned if I can't see my reflection in it when you're done, now get to work, _Mr. Aristotle_."

—

"Hey, Bill," Denise greeted, bringing him from his stupor.

"Denise, haven't seen you 'round here in a while," he said, adjusting his sunglasses as he held out his fist for Henry. "How're you doin' pal?"

"Luca," he replied, bumping fists. He smiled, then frowned as he watched Aristotle look around the Gym in wonder.

"Aristotle," Denise said. She had to say his name twice more before he pulled his eyes away and looked at her. "What, you never saw a Gym before?"

"Ah, no," he said, looking around again. "Where I'm from…oh, that rock formation looks like a Golem…where I'm from we didn't have a Pokémon Gym."

"That _is_ a Golem, by the way; it's a stray that stays here for scraps, and if you touch him he'll bite your royal behind. So what? Littleroot? New Bark?"

He looked at her curiously. "Why would you assume that I am from Kanto?"

"I don't know; maybe because you look a little amazed by the simplest things here?"

"Ah," he murmured, blinking dazedly like he just got punched in the face. "I see."

"Bill, this is Aristotle," she said, gesturing to him. He smiled in a friendly way, but that didn't help the creepiness of his demeanor. Even Bill couldn't look chill when faced with that. "Aristotle, this is Bill. He helps new Trainers along in the Gym."

"You a Trainer?" Bill asked him. He shrugged.

"I think he is. He has this Wurmple," Denise said. "But it looks kinda defective to me."

"Hey," he said disconcertedly, pulling the sticky little Pokémon from the folds of his cloak. "She doesn't like name calling."

"Oh yeah, he's a psychic too," she added. "Like that Gym Leader Sabrina."

"The Fire Stone," he reminded her, even though he looked like he'd rather keep drooling at the Gym than get it. She didn't even understand why he'd need one, unless he had an Eevee or Growlithe or something hidden in his cloak, though personally, if she was a Pokémon, she'd hate to have to share space with that Wurmple.

"You need a Fire Stone, guy?" Bill asked. He nodded. "Don't worry, ol' Bill's got ya. Hey, Brock!" he yelled across the lumpy stone structures.

"Huh?" Brock shouted back. "Bill? Is there a Trainer?"

"Guy needs a Fire Stone!"

"You know the rules, Bill!"

Bill turns back to Aristotle resignedly. "Sorry, guy; rules are rules. The Gym Leader can only give you Items if you beat him in a battle, and, well, your Pokémon is pretty sorry."

"A Pokémon battle?" Aristotle replied, rocking his Wurmple back and forth a bit. He whispered something into her ear, staring at her so intensely Denise assumed he was reading her thoughts. "Yes, that's doable. I do need that Fire Stone after all, and I am financially bereft."

"Huh? You're broke but you went to my shop anyway?" Denise accused.

"Oh, Denise," he said, stricken. She wanted to pester him some more but gave up; he was too weird, in attitude and actions. If she kept fighting with him she might catch whatever he had. "Mr. Bill, I'll fight Brock."

Bill just shrugged, like he knew Aristotle was dead meat but didn't want to tell him. He led them past the random cropping of boulders and onto the rocky battlefield. Brock was standing at the other end of it, speaking to his Onix. "Hey," he said to Aristotle.

"Good morning," he replied.

"This ought'a be quick," Bill muttered as he stood to the side with Denise. "The rules are simple: both Trainers will use two Pokémon, and the battle ends when both of a Trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue. If buddy here wins, he gets the Boulder Badge; if Brock wins, buddy has to cough up. That's about it. Let the battle begin!"

Aristotle retrieved a PokeBall from his pocket; a blinding flash of white light burst from it, forcing Denise to turn away, then it dimmed to a small red light. Suddenly a Glaceon was standing in front of him, shaking with the anticipation of battle.

"You have a Glaceon?" Denise asked, regretting doing so right after. He summoned it, didn't he? she thought. Obviously, he does. But then why would he need a Fire Stone? Unless he has more Pokémon, but I don't understand why he would carry around that stupid little Wurmple if he does…

"Denise," he said warningly. She pressed her lips together, trying to clear her mind.

"Get outta my head," she said, imagining pink Donphan.

"Denise." This time, it was more out of amusement.

"Aristotle." She spoke in annoyance.

"So your name is Aristotle?" Brock asked. Aristotle nodded; his Glaceon seemed to nod too. "Like the old philosopher?"

"Yes; I'm impressed that you recognize it."

"He reads philosophy to get scholarly women," Bill said to Denise.

"He's _still_ chasing women?" she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yup. No luck though."

"Go figure."

Aristotle smiled, looking at her in interest. "You're one to speak about pointless love, Denise."

"Shut it and do your damn battle."

He continued to smile to Denise's annoyance. "Please use Quick Attack." His Glaceon lurched forward; it was quick, Denise was certain of that, but it wasn't exactly _Quick Attack_ quick.

"Onix, use Iron Tail!" Brock commanded. Onix shifted, slamming its tail into the ground and smashing the rocks apart. Aristotle's Glaceon recoiled, moving backwards. She watched it in confusion; shouldn't it have tried to run through the rocks straight to his Onix? Was Aristotle new to Pokémon battling? It _was_ the first Gym, but usually the Trainers had _some_ experience.

"Keep going," he urged softly. Glaceon shook its head and leapt onto the nearest rock, opening its mouth and releasing an Ice Beam. It did manage to hit Onix right in the face, but he was strong; he just shook the ice chips off and roared defiantly.

"Onix, Bind!" Brock yelled. His Onix lunged forward, curling his tail around Glaceon and tightening his grip until it was visibly straining for breath. Aristotle didn't seem the least bit worried, however; he just watched with that weirdly blank face of his.

"Hey, I'm not a Trainer, but wouldn't it be smart for you to, I don't know, _counterattack_?" Denise said. He didn't respond; he kept watching as his Glaceon cried out, wiggling in Onix's grip. Out of nowhere he winced, biting his lower lip.

"Don't be mad at _me_ ; _I_ did not suggest that," he called. Denise thought that he hearing his Glaceon telepathically, but in that case why didn't he _respond_ to it telepathically? "What? You're being highly unreasonable. What?" The Glaceon cried out. "This was _your_ idea! Remember?"

Glaceon exhaled, encasing Onix's rocks in a thin shield of ice. He recoiled immediately, smashing his tail against the ground to shatter the ice. Glaceon took that opportunity to slip free, running up his body while forming ice crystals around its own body. It jumped onto Onix's nose and launched the crystals into his eyes; he roared, throwing his head back with his eyes screwed shut, but Glaceon held its ground by freezing its paws to his body.

"Onix, use Screech!" Brock shouted. Denise covered her ears as Onix opened his mouth and screamed with enough force to shake the boulders lying around. The ice immediately shattered and Glaceon began sliding down his body. It tried to stick to him again but the ice it made was weak with him still shouting; it just formed a thin trail as it skidded down his body to the ground.

"Stop playing around," Aristotle said with so much force it sounded like his personality did a complete one-eighty. His Glaceon stood up, shook its fur out and glared at him. "Don't say that," he said remorsefully. "You're highly irritating. Use Hidden Power."

Five golden balls appeared around Glaceon, slowly revolving around it like it was the Sun. It charged forward as Onix swung his head from side-to-side, still blinded from its earlier attack. It barked as it launched Hidden Power, which struck Onix head-on, literally. He roared as a series of fist-shaped indents appeared in his thick, rocky exterior; chunks of stone fell from his body as he shook, waved from side-to-side and finally toppled to the ground with a series of thuds and a final, grand _thump!_

"Onix is unable to continue; the winner of the battle is Glaceon!" Bill announced, throwing a hand in Glaceon's direction. Aristotle didn't seem pleased at all; if Denise had to describe his unusually rigid expression, she'd say he looked a little sad.

"You won, shouldn't you be happy?" she asked. He just shook his head and sighed.

"Good job, Onix," Brock said. "Bill said we needed two Pokémon, but one battle is good enough—"

"Hello there," Aristotle interrupted, looking up at his Onix. "I'm sorry we had to get rough. My Pokémon is sorry too." His Glaceon scowled; Onix snorted in response, turning away.

"Nix," he snapped at Aristotle's Glaceon. Denise couldn't speak Pokémon, but it sounded like someone her mom would've washed her mouth out for.

"Apologize," he said to Glaceon. It slowly padded up to Onix and gave one of his rocks a quick lick before moving away. "She's sorry too."

Onix grunted as Aristotle moved over, scraping at the ice stuck around his eye. "I hope she wasn't too brutal," he murmured.

Glaceon huffed and ran over to Brock, sniffing him; he patted her head. "It's okay; it'd be a pretty sad battle if neither of us went all-out," he said, looking at him. "You don't seem like a Trainer, though."

"I'm not," he answered softly. "I'm a…Traveler, if you will; I want to learn all I can about this world and the others."

"Others?" Brock and Denise asked at the same time. He smiled a little at that.

"The worlds of the Legendary Pokémon."

"What? The Legendaries live in different worlds?" Denise said this time.

"Dimensions, to be specific."

"How do you know?"

He was almost grinning, his smile was so big. He looked like he wanted to laugh but couldn't for the sake of the situation. "Books. They're very magical in the way they effortlessly and painlessly disclose information to the common man—or working-class woman."

She glared at him. "You really feel smart, don't you? Well in Pewter, it's not about brains; it's about staying alive while I beat your smart—"

"Lucario!" Henry cried out, turning to the door. Denise broke off and followed his eyes, seeing a figure dart between the rocks and make his way over the ruptured ground.

"Dee? What's up? Did something happen at the house?"

He slumped over briefly, trying to catch his breath. They were more or less alike: same brown skin, same brown hair, and same displeasure for Pewter, except their dad was hard-pressing him to take over the shop when he had more fun travelling as a Trainer and only popping by occasionally. "You better come fast," he said after finally catching his breath, terror and dread in his eyes. Her blood ran cold as she followed him back through the Gym, bursting through the doors into the construction district of Pewter. They dodged workers with steel beams and passing Golem and the occasional Hitmonlee running back to their house. "Dee, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure," he said as they passed through an alley. He ducked to avoid a low-flying Staravia before leaping over a toppled trashcan. "One minute, me and mom were talking and eating cookies—the damn good ones, the peanut butter and oatmeal ones you know that are so soft they just melt in your mouth—"

"Get to the freakin' point!"

"Then this wacko Trainer showed up, knocked her out, socked dad, took my Pokémon and our Fossils and left!"

She was barely conscious of the fast tapping of feet behind them. "What the hell?" She saw their neighborhood and barely recognized their house among the smoke and debris around it. It looked like the entire second floor had collapsed. When she moved closer she could distinguish three bodies in the rubble: her mom, a dangerous-looking red gash on her forehead; her dad half-pinned under a cement chunk; and Derrick lying face-down in the dirt, completely motionless. "Derrick!" she yelled, dropping to her little brother's side and turning him over. "Why didn't you call an ambulance?" she shouted at Dee.

"I did, but well, you know Pewter's stupidity—"

"Derrick," she said frantically, tapping his cheek. "Derrick, wake up!"

"He won't; I already tried for all of them," Dee said. "I just wanted you to see them in case, well…"

She carefully set Derrick down before getting to her feet. "Do you know who the Trainer is?"

"No; I never saw him around Kanto before."

"Do you know where he went?"

Dee pointed to the southwest. She turned and saw Henry running up with Brock and Aristotle holding his weird little Wurmple. "Henry, we're going," she said.

"Lu," he said, energized. Aristotle looked at her pleadingly, which she ignored and charged past him. He suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, nearly causing her to fall on her face.

"Violence is not the answer," he said, annoyingly calm.

"Tell that to the guy that jacked with my family!"

"Denise, trust me."

"Why should I?" she yelled, spinning to face him and yanking her arm from his grip. "I don't even know you, you weirdo! This joker—whoever he is—hurt my family, so I'll hurt him back!"

"But what good will that do?" He looked at her with something flickering in his eyes that she didn't recognize immediately.

"Mind your own damn business! Don't worry about what I do!"

"I will worry, because I don't want to see you get hurt." He blinked, apparently reading her reaction in her thoughts, and added, "I don't want to see anyone get hurt, not anymore."

"Then what? I'm supposed to let him walk free? Not a chance!" She turned and took off before he could say anything else, Henry running at her side. "What the hell is wrong with that guy?" she asked him.

"Lu," he shrugged. Then he pushed her out of the way as a Graveler and Golem rolled by. "Ca, Luca," he said, looking at her worriedly. She grimaced.

"I'm gonna be fine, Henry," she said, running through an alley onto the Route 3 entrance. She saw a Trainer with reddish-brown hair standing to the side laughing with his Blastoise. An unmistakable leather PokeBall belt was looped around his wrist; it was unmistakable because their dad made it for Dee when his tenth birthday came and it had so many stitches it could audition for _Frankenstein_. The Trainer laughed for a few more seconds before his eyes set on her.

"You look familiar," he said, and those were the only three words he could get out before Henry charged forward and decked him in the jaw. He stumbled back a couple of steps before flipping backwards from the momentum and landing in the dirt. His Blastoise snarled and grabbed Henry by the neck; he growled, grabbing his thick wrists and futilely trying to pry himself free. "Ugh," he groaned, getting to his feet and dusting off his clothes.

"You're gonna get more from me unless you give back Dee's belt," Denise threatened, stepping forward. "Or actually, I should rephrase that: you'll get a beating even if you return it, just for hurting my family."

"Your family… So those were your brothers, huh?" he mused, using a tree to get to his feet. He spat a wad of blood on the grass and wiped his mouth. He smirked arrogantly. "They were pretty damn weak, you know?"

"That's it!" She lurched forward, ready to bash his brains in, but slammed into something hard and thick like a tree, spinning to the ground. She blinked away the stars in her vision and saw his Blastoise standing guard in front of him. "Where's Henry?"

"This guy?" he said, holding him up by the arm. Henry's head lolled to the side, limp and useless like the rest of his body. Denise tried to get up but a stabbing pain in her left arm stopped her. "A Psychic-type that can't use Psychic-type moves is pretty useless, don't you think?"

"Who are you?" Denise demanded. He laughed as he threw Henry to the ground, spinning Dee's belt around his finger.

"Blue," he said plainly.

"Blue… I remember you. You were Champion before you lost to that Red guy," she smirked. His confident smile dissolved into an angry scowl.

"Yeah, well, I won't lose to him again, especially with these new training dummies." He shook Dee's belt for emphasis. Denise managed to get to her feet.

"Give those back."

"Or what? You'll try to hit me again with that broken arm? Send your dysfunctional Lucario after me?" Blue laughed. "You know, you can blame your family for the attack. I was here on a little _task_ , see, and I just wanted some Fossils to get some kickin' Pokémon to throw around, but then your brother—the twerpy brat with the really bad puberty voice—said that I was a bad guy, that I abuse my Pokémon blah-blah-blah. Kid was the worst; I was happy to send Arcanine to deal with him. The world would be better if he didn't open his eyes again."

There weren't any words for how mad Denise was, but her anger wasn't enough to cloud her judgment; as a simple human, she couldn't fight a big Pokémon like that. Even so, she couldn't help swinging at it another time. It caught her good hand with a smirk just like Blue's, but before she could find out if he wanted to break her other arm or smash her or something, someone else came behind them.

"Excuse me," Aristotle said. "I don't think Denise likes that, so if you would please release her and return her property, that would be very nice."

"Bad news for you, guy, but I'm not exactly _nice_ ," Blue snorted.

"I see. I was just hoping you would make the correct choice."

Blue rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers; Blue's Blastoise released her and she immediately dropped to Henry's side. He was coming to, but not nearly fast enough to fight his Blastoise and whatever else he had. "Aristotle, you should go," she said to him. "This guy means serious business."

"So do I." He was still holding his Wurmple, which made Blue laugh.

"You don't expect to fight me with _that_ , do you?"

"No, I don't. You can stop pretending now," he said to her. His Wurmple looked at them with human intelligence.

 _Aristotle._ It took a few breaths for Denise and Blue to realize that his Wurmple was talking to him. _Telepathically. I don't want to—_

"Our purpose is to save lives, isn't it?" he asked her. She sighed and wriggled out of his grip. Denise watched her change form, changing from a pathetic little Wurmple into—

" _Mew?_ " Blue gasped. It couldn't have been the Legendary Pokémon Mew, the ancestor of all Pokémon, but she looked the part and floated around and—well—it couldn't have been anything _but_ Mew.

"Yo-You have _Mew_?" she asked Aristotle, eyes wide. " _And_ a Glaceon—"

"It was it, actually," he said, pointing at Mew floating around nervously. "We just used a little powder and lights trick to make it seem as if I was calling it from a PokeBall. I told the truth earlier; I'm not a Trainer. It was the one that wanted me to battle, and I got what it wanted me to get." He pulled a Thunderstone out of his cloak. "Well, not exactly, but he should be happy either way."

"Isn't it a _little_ unfair to challenge me with the god of Pokémon?" Blue sneered, obviously ruffled.

"It's not the god; Arceus is," he corrected. "And I know it is unfair, which is why _I_ won't be attacking you." He tossed the Thunderstone to the grass a few feet away. A Pokémon raced out from the bushes and jumped on it; the light from the reaction forced all of them to turn away, and when it died down a Jolteon was standing in the grass, growling and bristling and ready to fight.

"Mew?" Aristotle said, gesturing at her.

 _This is Melvin,_ Mew introduced, still looking very wary. Denise shivered every time the thing's thoughts invaded her head. _Melvin's mother was badly injured by Blue, so he wants his revenge. I tried to convince him otherwise, as did Aries, however children are very hard to persuade._

"Indeed," Aristotle agreed. He looked at Denise, a sad expression on his face, but before she could ask about it Blastoise took a step forward, cannons aimed at her. Twin jets of highly-pressurized steamy water shot from them, so fast she feared she wouldn't have time to call Arceus' name before she was burned to a crisp. "Denise!" Suddenly Aristotle's voice was a shriek full of pain. She felt something tug at her mind like a rope was tied to her brain, then it became a noose when she felt her body fly sideways to the ground. The water missed her by a millimeter, tearing up a thick oak tree instead. She swallowed, imagining her head in that position.

"What?" Blue said, confused. Mew looked at Aristotle, who had his arm outstretched and his face red with exertion.

 _I have yet to see you move something as large as a person intentionally,_ she said. _Impressive, Aries._

"Guu," he groaned. He brought his arm down to his side with a loud _crack_ that sounded like bone grating against bone. The sound returned when he tried to take a step forward. "Damn it," he said, actually looking human for once. "Can't move."

"So you're a psychic, huh?" Blue said, looking at him. "Like Gym Leader Sabrina?"

 _She is a psychic, true,_ Mew said, _but Aries is a_ true _psychic._ Aristotle and Blue rolled their eyes. _Roll your eyes all you want, Pokémon Trainer Blue, but it is very true; his mental ability is two-point-seven times that of a normal person's. You would have no chance against him in a battle._

Blue looked like he had something snarky to say, but that little Eevee—Jolteon, Melvin, whatever—shot a pretty damn impressive Thunderbolt at his Blastoise. It staggered, not exactly injured but very surprised, and was slow reacting as Melvin leapt on top of it, fur sparking and snapping. Blastoise aimed its cannons at him, but every time it tried to fire Melvin gave it a good shock. Blue grounded his teeth together and started to draw one of Dee's PokeBalls.

"Cario!" Henry came up from behind him and, in one quick movement, grabbed Dee's belt and kicked him in the base of his back, knocking him to the ground. Blastoise cried out as the electricity finally became too much for him; Blue tried to go towards him, concern on his face, but Henry slammed his foot between his shoulder blades, holding him down.

"Hey, Blue," Denise said, crouching down to meet his eyes. "Before we send you to Hell, I have a question: What _task_ were you talking about earlier?"

"Classified information," he grounded out.

"You better un-classify it, or else Henry'll break your spine to bits."

"Sorry," he smirked, squirming under Henry's foot. Henry growled and shifted to put more pressure on his back; just then, a screeching sound vibrated through the air as a red beam shot from under his body into the sky. Denise looked up and barely moved in time as a Pigeot came swooping down; his talons raked down her back as she ducked, leaving painful scratch marks she was sure would bleed out. Henry had to back up as Blue's Pigeot came back, talons ready to cut his ears off. Blue smirked and raised his hand, grabbing Pigeot's leg as it came back around. All of them ducked as he soared high with a mighty screech, Blue laughing as he climbed onto his back and returned Blastoise. The last thing they saw was his middle finger, then they flew too far away to see.

Denise swore, kicking a rock angrily. "He got away."

Melvin the Jolteon looked sad too. Aristotle knelt down with a few more painful-sounding, scratching his scruff. Even though there was still electricity crackling around his body, he didn't seem fazed by it. "It's okay," he murmured. "Revenge is a pointless thing anyway."

 _Aries,_ Mew said, hovering awfully close to him. _You're being very hypocritical right now. You're saying revenge is a pointless thing, yet you crave just that with—_

"Mew," he said, closing his eyes. In anger? She couldn't be sure. "That's private."

Mew looked thoughtful, so much that Denise assumed that the conversation between them had become purely mental. A sad look crossed her face; Aristotle looked sad, but that quickly changed to determination. "In any case," he said suddenly, very loudly, startling Denise after a few minutes of telepathy. "We should help Denise and her Lucario. They are injured, remember?"

Denise barely remembered, but when Aristotle said it, the pain was revived in her body. She stumbled and would've fallen if Henry hadn't caught her, carrying her in his arms like when she was a little girl and they'd play until she fell asleep. "Henry," she said, a little annoyed, but didn't try to break from his grip.

"Cari," he replied, his face soft.

"He cares for you a lot, you know," Aristotle said, standing up and grimacing. She turned her face away from him.

"You're really annoying, you know that? You're too strange and shadowy and just plain _weird_."

He simply smiled, like he expected her to say that. "I did expect you to say that," he said, reading her thoughts. "To be completely honest, I enjoyed your little mental commentary of this endeavor."

"Why don't you listen to your own damn thoughts, huh?" she snapped. He made that same kicked puppy face that made her feel bad. "Don't do that; you're not innocent at all."

"Goodnight, Denise," he said. She felt something tingly in her brain, kind of like when he grabbed her psychically earlier, and suddenly she was so tired she couldn't even swear at him before her eyes were stuck shut.


	7. 12 Silver and Mew

The one good thing about Pewter was its medical competency. The hospital, near the center of the city, was pretty damn advanced; that was the only reason why, a couple hours after treating her mild-to-moderate injuries, Denise was able to go to her parents' and brother's room.

Dee had beat her to it; he was already sitting next to Derrick, head bowed and hands folded like he was praying to Arceus. His Charmeleon was standing next to him watching Derrick intently. "Dee," she said.

"Denise," he said without looking up.

"Dee… Why are you kicking yourself so much over this?"

"I was there," he complained. "I was there and I was…useless. Derrick almost died, you know; he almost died and it's because I couldn't keep my Pokémon away from some dumb, stupid damn Trainer." He groaned into his hands. "I don't understand why, even after making it through all eight Gyms, I couldn't beat some kid—!" He suddenly stood up and, yanking his silver Badge Case from his pocket, threw it out the open window and into a nearby construction zone.

"Dee! Those are your Badges!"

"Not like they did me any good," he said, sinking back down into his chair and burying his face in his hands again.

"Dee…" He groaned again. "Damn you, look at me already."

"No," he muttered.

She moved over to him, nudging his muddy old Running Shoe with the paper slipper the hospital gave her. "It's okay. Really. It's just that damn Trainer's fault. C'mon, look at me. Please?" He didn't move. "Demetrius, if you don't look at me in the next three seconds I swear I'll open the window and yell out every embarrassing thing I know about you."

"Denise—"

"Three—two—I think that story about you in the girls' locker room is a good start—wow, that was a fun learning experience; I didn't know you could get a black eye from a ta—"

"Denise," he sighed, sitting up. "I get what you're trying to do."

She found another chair and sat opposite to him. "You're my big brother; I don't like seeing you all mopey and crap. It's not your fault anyway, and the doctors said Mom and Dad and Derrick'll be fine in any case, so don't keep kicking yourself over it, a'ight?"

He ran his hands through his hair, smiling a little. "You've a weird way of picking people up, but thanks anyway."

"You always helped me when we were kids; I finally returned that favor, huh? Although I wish you hadn't wasted your Badge case," she added, looking out of the window. He shrugged one shoulder.

"I mean yeah, they were important moments for me, but…" He just shook his head and sighed in a depressed way. She felt like there was more to it but left him alone.

"Alright."

"Okay, okay, now can I ask _you_ something?"

"Huh?"

He rested his elbows on his knees, looking her straight in the eyes. "Who was that guy earlier, that pale one?"

"Um, the pale one? With the blond hair?"

"There was only one pale guy," he said.

"He's…er…"

"Denise."

"Fine! He's this guy…Aristotle."

"Okay…?"

"He's weird, but…kind of nice too…and…uh…"

He held up his hand. "Say no more. I get it."

"What?" She flushed in anger at the knowing smirk on his face. "No, Dee—"

"He's leaving, you know," he interrupted. "He came in here once and asked me how we were doing, then he said he was leaving."

"What?" she said, jumping to her feet. She had way too many questions to ask him to just let him go. She started to run, then she slumped over, remembering why she was stuck in Pewter in the first place. "Dee, I—"

"Go," he said with finality.

"I—huh?"

"You always wanted to leave Pewter, so go. I'll run the store; I missed Mom's cooking anyway, travelling with beef ramen packs so much. Do what you gotta do, find love or yourself or whatever crap you kids see on _Advanced Battle_ reruns."

"Huh? No, I don't—"

"Go before I change my mind, damn it," he said, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest in his very familiar Ain't-nothin'-gonna-change-my-mind stance.

"But," she pleaded, "I can't even say goodbye to Mom and Dad and Derrick."

"They'll understand. They know you hate Pewter."

"What? Dee! I don't _hate_ it!"

"Um, yeah, you do. We all do, matter of fact."

"What?" Denise realized she was saying _What?_ and _Huh?_ a lot in that conversation.

"Uh-huh. That's why we have a store; we were trying to save up enough money to move to Viridian. That's all you have to ask?"

"I'll miss you, Dee," she said. "You know I will. And you too, Amir."

"Charmeleon, char," Amir said, wiping his eyes with the back of his claws.

Dee stood up and threw his arms around her. "Me, too." Her face was pressed awkwardly against his chest—he was half a foot taller than her—but he was warm and smelled like shoe polish and that cheap shampoo he always used. "Also," he murmured in her ear, "if you marry him, don't choose Derrick as your best man, 'cause he'll lose the rings."

She shoved him away angrily. "Demetrius!" He only smiled and returned to his seat, bowing his head again. "What are you doing? Praying for them?"

"Nope," he said. "Just wondering when Arceus'll come back."

—

What did he mean back then? Denise wondered. She felt Henry shove her backwards and stumbled forward as a steel beam crashed down where she was standing seconds earlier. "Sorry!" the worker called from the building's skeleton. His Hitmonlee also waved apologetically.

"Lucario," Henry said, giving her his Get-your-head-out of-the-clouds-look.

"I'm not doing this on purpose, Henry." She remembered finding him at the Pokémon Center, along with a generous female Trainer that offered some of her clothes to replace the stupid hospital gown. (She didn't exactly gain clearance to leave, but then again, she was perfectly fine except for her arm.) "Oh, Henry, stop giving me that look."

He effortlessly shifted into his Do-you-know-what-you're-getting-yourself-into? look. (They knew each other's looks very well.)

"Of course I do, Henry. I'm eighteen years old; I'll make my own damn choices."

He gave his I-know-I'll-be-saying-'I told you so'-later-so-I'm-not-going-to-say-anything-else-right-now-shrug, a.k.a. his Have-it-your-way-but-be-warned-you're-an-idiot shrug.

"Shut up Henry; you're just like Mom and Dad." She paused. "Going on a journey, I won't see them for a while, will I?" She suddenly wished she had a memento to take with her. Henry looked at her, eyes narrowed a little. Then he turned and started running back into the city. "Henry!" She almost chased after him, but she spotted an unmistakable head of blond hair mixed in with Pewter's crowds. She knew that if she didn't move quickly enough, he would disappear, taking all his mysteries with him, and she was never the kind of person to leave puzzles undone, even the stupid thousand-piece ones her mom always bought for Christmas.

She pushed through the passersby, murmuring halfhearted apologies as she chased after Aristotle. She tried to keep her mind blank, tried not to think about how close she was cutting it with him and wonder about where Henry went or if her family was going to be alright, but to instead focus on him.

 _What are you doing, Denise?_ Denise froze, almost barreling into a runoff canal in surprise. She gripped the railing and leaned forward, watching the slurry lap at the grey rocks.

"Mew?" she wondered out loud.

 _Why are you chasing after Aries when your life is here?_

"I never wanted to be here though; I always wanted to leave this damn city." She was lucky that the sound of machinery hid the fact she was talking to "herself."

 _Aries doesn't want you to follow, you know._

"Well he's a stuck-up—"

 _It is not a personal grudge,_ Mew continued. _To fully unlock one's mental potential, they must be able to detach their minds from worldly things, which he avidly struggles with since he is…_

"Uncouth?" she suggested. "Unscrupulous?" She finally had a reason to appreciate her elementary school's old Word Wall.

 _That is a blunt way of putting it, but, well, yes; he finds it too amusing to look in others' minds now that he has the ability, and has much less remorse than expected when being chastised for it. A little humorous considering how bashful and reserved he once was. I digress; he is trying to attain that sort of detachment, which you prevent by conversely being attached to everything in a very human way._

"But there's nothing wrong with being human," she protested.

 _For you, perhaps, but Aries has had his worries since he was six years old; he hasn't had the time to be human in his eyes. He has done a lot, but the gist of his life is that he has been reading and meditating for the past eleven years._

"Amazing," she said. She tried to imagine doing the same thing but failed; if she had to spend eleven years reading and meditating, she would've shoved a book down her throat to end the misery. "What worries though?"

 _It is not up to me to tell you; you should ask him._

"I don't know where he went, thanks to you."

 _I believe I can help. Turn around, Denise._

Denise did, very slowly so she wouldn't get startled like every other time those two were involved. Mew was floating directly in front of her, hands pressed over her mouth to hide her laughter. _You didn't even see me approach!_ she suddenly cried out, laughing so hard she fell and almost hit the ground a few times.

"Yeah ah-hah so hilarious—about Aristotle?"

 _Aries._

"Huh?"

 _His name is Aries,_ Mew said, calming down. _At least, that is what I call him._

"Yeah but _where is he_?"

 _Meditating._

"He's what? I just saw him walking around—"

 _He needs a quiet place to meditate,_ Mew said like Denise was slow-witted. _He was looking for one._

"And why's he meditating?"

 _He is…searching. For somebody._

"Who? His parents? Siblings? What?"

 _Mm…no. He is looking for the man that attacked the Legendary Pokémon eleven years ago._

"The man that attacked the Legendary Pokémon?" she repeated, dubious. "What kind of monster can do that? I mean, catching them, yeah, they always get released afterwards, but if he just went and _attacked_ them…"

 _He is unlike any other human, Denise; he is very self-righteous, resourceful, and has no qualms whatsoever about eliminating the same beings that prevent this world from falling apart for his own selfish incentives._

"Okay, I'll bite: who is this Devil incarnate?"

 _He is—_

"—right next to you," another voice interrupted, this one low and obviously male. Denise blinked and realized that there was a man standing behind Mew; she wondered how she didn't see him before, and judging by Mew's shocked expression, she didn't see him either. He was tall, maybe Dee's height, with red hair and a slight scowl on his face. Denise guessed he was in his late twenties/early thirties.

 _Silver,_ Mew gasped, hiding behind Denise. She was instantly on edge; if Mew—freaking _Mew_ —was scared of that Silver guy, he was bad news with a capital _B_.

"Hello, old friend," he said to Mew, smirking. "I haven't seen you in eleven years; show a little hospitality, huh?"

 _You don't deserve it, not after you what you did to my family,_ she snapped, although she didn't move. Denise's eyes widened; _he_ was the guy? He was a little intimidating, yeah, but he didn't look like he could poke a guy's backpack, let alone jump the Legendaries. He didn't even look like a Trainer, not with that thousand-dollar suit that didn't even have a microbe of dirt on it, despite being in Pewter Eating-Dust-For-Dinner City.

"Who's this lovely little girl?" he said, smirking at Denise. "What happened to that brat you had? Up and left you, huh?"

"Hey, why don't you shut up, huh?" Denise suggested. His smirk disappeared and his scowl deepened.

"You know, I missed being treated like that," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Like the bastard I really am. I missed that."

"Who the hell would treat you otherwise and why the hell do you miss it?"

"A lot of people treat me otherwise; they're a bunch of kiss-ups that'd wipe my butt if I asked, and that's more than annoying. I'm _kind of_ an important person."

"Obviously; the everyday man can't afford a suit like that."

"This?" He looked at it with distaste. "I can't help it; Pops made the boys throw out all of my Trainer's clothes."

"So you're a Trainer, huh?" She crossed her arms over her chest now—or tried at least, before she remembered she could only use one arm and shoved her good hand in her pocket.

"The very best that no one ever was."

"Haha, sing the song every Pokémon newbie knows."

"As amusing as it is speaking to the common person, my business is with _her_." He pointed at Mew. "I asked you where the brat went; it'd be smart of you to answer me A.S.A.P."

 _Denise,_ Mew whined, trying to push into her jacket.

"I'm not that good at reading emotions, but I'm assuming she doesn't want to answer you," Denise said. "And now I believe we'll be taking our leave."

"Like you can get past me, sweetheart," he scoffed. "What, do you want to make an 'old-and-feeble' joke? Blue made the same one; it's no wonder he ended up prostrating."

"Prostate?" she said, a little freaked.

" _Prostrate_. College-level words are really amazing, aren't they?" he said sarcastically. He ignored Denise's glare and continued, "You remember Blue, don't you? His objective was to find Aristotle and report his location to me; instead, he busied himself with stealing second-rate Pokémon from a second-rate Trainer." He sighed, face-palming. "The one time I wanted help, it turned out to be a selfish idiot."

"You should look in the mirror if you're talking about selfish idiots," she said. "And Dee's Pokémon aren't second-rate and neither is he."

"Sweetheart, facts are facts. And though it saddens me to have wasted my precious and little time with that moronic child, I'm heartened by knowing that associating with him has given me an even greater—and more competent—ally." He clapped his hands together, watching Mew squirm around in Denise's jacket. She suddenly realized why Aries was so uncomfortable with her wiggling around in there.

Something in his pants' pocket rang; he retrieved a small blue device and opened it up, holding it to his ear. "Hello? Yes, this is Silver… Uh-huh… No, I was sure to—what? He was already worse for the wear; how bad can it—seriously? Are you serious? You better be serious, Jerry, otherwise… Jerry, Nathan, whatever, don't throw a fit over a single name in an ocean of Grunts. Hnn… So the old man's finally there, huh… Alright, alright, I'll be there in a few." He punched a button and shoved the device deep into his pocket. "You two are very lucky," he said, pointing at them.

"What happened? Wife called?" Denise sneered.

"You know, if you and Blue had the same beginnings, I'd expect you two to be best friends, because you two have the same exact sense of desiccated humor." He pulled out a small PokeBall from his pants' pocket. "I know this is horribly cliché, but this isn't over, you two. As soon as my—business—is through, you'll find yourselves between a rock and a helluva hard place."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, Silver," she replied. He narrowed his eyes, enlarging the ball and pressing the button. A red beam shot out and landed on the ground next to him, slowly morphing into a Crobat. He climbed on its back and it rose into the air. "Mew, don't forget you're on my list," he called as they went higher and higher. "And now, little girl, you're right next to her." Then they were gone, speeding through the air past Pewter until they were just a dot on the horizon.

"That guy was a huge joker," Denise sighed. "Mew, you can get out now."

 _He's not a joker,_ Mew murmured, slipping free and hovering very close to the ground. _He acts that way but he is an_ exceptionally _powerful Trainer, so much that not even I could harm him._

" _You_? But you're—you're _Mew_."

 _The Legendary Pokémon are not invulnerable or omnipotent, Denise; there are more than a few instances where one of us, say Latios or Darkrai, are captured, and if not for the Trainer's epiphany about interfering with extra-dimensional affairs, then we would not have been whole._

"Then what should we do about him?" Denise asked. Mew shrugged, which was the most human thing she'd done so far. "What, are we supposed to just wait until he does something horrible again?" Another shrug. "That may work for you but it sure as hell won't work for me. I'm gonna find him and knock him into next Tuesday for messing with my family."

 _I thought you wanted to find Aries._

"I do too, but… Can't I ask _you_ what his deal is?"

Mew flew a little higher to get eye-level with her. _Though you can, you and I are both aware that getting your answer so easily will end this journey you have planned._ Denise gritted her teeth, turning away moodily.

"Rape is illegal, you know, and I think mind-rape falls in that category too."

 _Besides,_ Mew continued, laughing a little, _I'd rather you did travel with him. I fear that Aries is losing himself in focusing on his goal._

"His goal?" She turned back, confused. "He has a goal? What is it? Knocking some sense into that Silver bastard?"

 _I have no idea; he's quieter than before, and I am unable to read his mind. I can only even send thoughts to him with his permission, and so my psychic powers are rendered useless with him._

"Have you tried actually _talking_ to him, or has that fallen out of style with you guys?"

 _I don't know if you've noticed, Denise, but he's not particularly the easiest person to talk to anymore,_ she said dryly. Denise looked at her, amused.

"Is Mew, the greatest Legendary of all, being _sarcastic_? Wait, let me get my phone to record this—"

 _I am serious._

"Hah, okay, I got it. I don't know what you expect me to do, anyway."

 _I just want you to be with him,_ Mew said. _Maybe then he would be more likely to open up._

"No offense, but I really can't stand being with him; he's invasive, annoying, and _sort of_ a schmoozer."

 _And on the contrary—aside from the belligerence—you're a bit more open, loyal, and compassionate; I can tell by the way you treat Henry, among other thoughts and memories. I don't know why it is so hard for Aries to display these traits, but for whatever reason, he is as he is, and I can't help but worry for him and what he's doing as a sort of foster parent, which is why I'd like you to find his purpose, if not divert him from it._

"So this is the deal," she said, scratching her neck. "I get to travel with Mew, the Legendary of all Legendary Pokémon, see the world and all that good stuff, and investigate the strangest freakin' person in the world? That's it?"

 _You paraphrased quite a bit, but you seem to have caught the gist of it._

"Well damn, this beats how I usually spent my free time—well, honestly, a lot of things beat playing _Super Primeape Bros_."

Mew smiled a little and flew past Denise, hovering above the canal. _Are you coming?_ she asked.

"I can't fly."

 _Oh, give him a moment._

"What are you— _uuuooooh!_ " she yelled as she suddenly went flying over the canal. She heard a barking kind of laugh and scowled, punching his side. "Henry, you jerk! Don't freakin' scare me like that!"

"Lu," he said, not sounding the least bit sorry. His arms tightened around her as they hit the concrete on the other side.

 _You are quite strong despite your disability, Henry,_ Mew noted.

"'Course," Denise said, pushing from his grip. "He may have been a Bad Egg, but years of working in Pewter bulked him up, so even without Psychic-type attacks, he kicks—"

"Cario," he interrupted. She sighed.

"He's also been with me for a little over ten years, so he's all over everything I do like I'm not _eighteen years old_ and in charge of myself," she said, glaring at him.

"Lucario, lu."

 _He says, 'I've been with you long enough to know you're completely incapable of taking care of yourself,'_ Mew said.

"Trying to be cheeky, huh?" Denise pointed at him accusatorily while he glared at Mew. "I should leave you here with Dee."

 _'_ _You and I both know you won't.'_

"Dirty little—"

 _Aw, Henry,_ Mew mused, fluttering happily in the air. Denise didn't understand what she was so happy about until he extended his paws, which were closed. He slowly opened them to reveal a crumpled photograph.

"What's…?" She picked it up and slowly unfolded it. "Oh my—this is the picture from my bedroom!" She remembered when they'd taken it ten years ago; her Uncle Omar took her and her brothers on a trip to the Nimbasa City Amusement Park and took a picture of her with cotton candy stuck all over her face and her hair wild from the rollercoaster. Dee was half-crouched behind her in his ten-year-old metal-mouthed glory with Derrick on his back, toddler face twisted in a scream even though they were off of the ride. It was the only time they ever left Pewter, which was why she had the picture taped to her ceiling so she could stare at it and relive it every night.

"Lucario, Lucario, lu," he murmured.

 _He says, 'You said you miss your family, so you should take this with you,'_ Mew translated.

"Thanks," she said, punching his shoulder. He barked an embarrassed laugh, turning away.

 _We should catch up to Aries before he moves again,_ Mew said. Denise thought she would've waited for their little moment to end at least, but Mew just up and took off, literally.

"Hey—Henry!" Denise yelled when he grabbed her again, lunging forward and bouncing off of building supports like he was some kind of superhero. She punched his shoulder repeatedly. "This isn't fun, you know! I'll throw up! I'll— _guh_."

—

Henry finally stopped after about twenty jumps and three throw-ups, releasing her onto an emptier street. She stumbled a little before regaining her balance and instantly spotted Aries leaving Pewter's boundaries. "Aries!" she called. He didn't turn around; maybe he didn't hear her, but he sure as hell heard her thoughts. Irritated, she ran forward, and he finally turned when she was a few feet away, eyes wide, and she grabbed his arm with her good one, tackling him to the grass of Route 3.

"I don't like being ignored," she said to his bewildered face, which was very hilarious. His mouth worked but he couldn't manage to say anything for a while, which was when she actually laughed out loud at how ridiculous he looked.

"You know," he said, smirking, "I'm, by all rules of masculinity, am supposed to be on top of _you_."

"Well, I'm more masculine than you are, Princess."

"Oho, that's one argument you will always win."

"Heh, you feel funny, huh?" She released his arm to hit him in the face, but suddenly he reversed positions, flipping her onto her back and sitting on her stomach.

"Don't underestimate me," he said very seriously. He was quiet for a minute, then he muttered, "That is not a very nice thing to do, Denise."

"Get out of my head!" she shouted at him, pushing him off and getting to her feet. "The next time you do that, I'll—"

"Oho, I have a very good idea of what you intend to do to me if I read your mind again," he interrupted, undaunted. "Are you going to attack me while I know full well what you're next move will be?" She glared at him for a long time while he stared back, his face full of dry amusement.

"Lucario?" Henry said, looking between them.

"I see," Aries said, looking at him. "I'm the only person to not be daunted by your threats, eh? Well, to be frank, I've had worse than you against me."

"Like Silver?" she asked. His expression instantly went blank, and for the first time she sort of regretted something she said about him. "Never mind."

"No, you're right," he said dully. "Why did you come looking for me, at any rate?"

"You can read minds, can't you?" she asked bitterly.

"You don't like it, do you?" he said in the same bitter tone. She rolled her eyes.

"There are questions you never answered for me."

"I enjoy being a mystery," he said. "Although, are you sure you're not just using me as an excuse to get out of Pewter City?"

"I told you to get out of my—"

"It's written on your face, by the way. Also, I despise the city, too; it spawns far too much belligerence for me."

"While you apparently have no qualms about tackling a girl," she pointed out. He smiled wickedly.

"That's not a very nice way to ask someone to be a travelling partner."

"Great, because I'm not _asking_ you, I'm _telling_ you."

"Acerbic, demanding, and cruel; you know, you will make somebody a great first wife," he commented. She pushed past him angrily.

"I just thank Arceus that the man won't be you."


	8. 13 Team Galactic Leader Cyrus

"Aries, can you—"

"No."

"You don't even know—"

"I can read your mind; still no."

"—why I want it—"

"I can _still_ read your mind; _still_ , no."

"You're a jerk," was the conclusion Denise finally arrived at after two miles of walking. Sadly, it was the only thing they were arriving at after their sixty-five minutes of walking, and trekking through the dark depths of Mt. Moon, it was hard to look at the bright side of that, proverbially and physically. When they passed an incandescent crystal, Aries was reminded of one of his earlier conversations.

"You really are quite beautiful, Denise," he tried.

"I'm not falling for your crap this time," she snapped back.

"Ah, but I am quite serious—"

 _Aries, no,_ Mew said, shaking its head. He smirked at the back of Denise's head anyway.

"Do not ire, for I am sparing the world the obliteration it will surely have at the disobedient and malevolent hands of Denise," he replied. Even her Lucario laughed at that, causing her to face forward a little too quickly.

 _He is only kidding, Denise,_ Mew said, patting her shoulder. She swatted it away angrily.

"Truthfully, learning the metaphysical is very difficult," Aries continued, sensing her aggravation. "I have been practicing this sort of control for eleven years and haven't even made it halfway yet."

"Yeah, well, I'm very different from you," she said without turning around.

"I couldn't have said that better myself," he murmured. Although he was disappointed at not completing his psychic training, he was heartened by the fact he had plenty of solitary time to hone it—then Denise very literally dropped in. He didn't mind it much himself—Denise was sure to bring him some amusement, even if it came at the cost of his concentration, and with all of his crap he needed a laugh or two—but he was highly concerned about Mew's health.

 _If she somehow ends up in trouble—again,_ he had thought to it privately, _how will we help? My psychic abilities are still inadequate for an actual fight, and you, well, are stretched paper-thin with holding the planet together._

Neither liked to mention it too often, but after what Silver did, Mew was the only one left that could hold the world together before the natural disasters overwhelmed it. The task was massive for the Legendaries created for it; for Mew, just one Legendary, to do it, was almost unthinkable, even though it had the most power out of all of them. He wanted to help, really, but what could he, a simple human, do?

 _Don't worry,_ it replied. _Everything will be fine._

Aries hoped so, because with Silver amassing more power with each day, things weren't looking very fine. "Um, Aries?" Denise said. He blinked just as he came face-to-face with a wall of dark jagged Moonstone. He bounced off like he just hit rubber, falling on his back with a surprised gasp. "Are you okay?" she asked, extending a hand. He didn't take it, getting to his feet on his own instead.

"I'm fine; I was just…thinking a little too hard."

"Not as hard as that wall though," she said, causing Henry to laugh.

"You are really very amusing, Denise." He didn't mean it sarcastically, but by her vehement thoughts she took it that way. "I'm sorry."

"We've been walking for a long time," she complained, slouching against a stone. "Can't we take a break?"

 _We should, Aries,_ Mew agreed. _The end of Mt. Moon is still a long way's away._

"Fine," he conceded. Mew disappeared for a moment, returning a bit later with a green backpack. "Where did you get that?"

 _Demetrius._

"You took Dee's bag?" Denise sounded incredulous. Mew shook its head.

 _He had it ready for you; he was going to deliver it in person, but a thought "occurred" to him that if he left it, unattended, outside, then you would come of your own volition and retrieve it,_ it said with an almost smug look on its feline face. Denise snatched the backpack from its paws.

"I don't like you mind-bending my brother," she said, irritated, but the loud rumble of her stomach drowned out the latter half of her sentence. She seemed like she wanted to continue at first, but gave up with a grunted, "Well, you didn't hurt him, I think," and plopped onto the ground, opening the pack. "Clothes, Potions…food!" she exclaimed and unceremoniously spilling its edible contents to the ground. Mew caught them telekinetically to prevent them from hitting the earth; there were two roast beef sandwiches on rye, one grilled vegetable sandwich, a metal thermos, and a plastic package of some pastry. Denise's eyes lit up as she snatched it in her hands, holding it up to the light reflecting off of the moonstones surrounding them. "Red velvet!"

 _He gave you a carpet to eat?_ Mew asked, nonplussed. She shook her head, curls swishing from side to side.

"No, it's a sweet, Mew. Like candy."

"That's not healthy," Aries pointed out. She gave him a look that would've peeled lead paint. "Well, it's your body."

 _Idiot,_ she thought vehemently.

"You're aware I can hear your thoughts?"

 _Yes; why else would I think_ idiot _, idiot?_

"You're a pleasant person to be with, Denise." She didn't respond, only shoved the vegetable sandwich in his direction. He raised his eyebrows a little, looking at her taking a large bite out of one of the roast beefs. "Why not the roast beef sandwich?"

"You look like a herbivore," she said passively through a mouthful of bread and meat. He didn't like the way she said _herbivore_ , derisively and in an annoyed way, but she perceived that, at least, which meant she was more observant than she appeared. He picked it up and carefully plucked any dust mites from it psychically before taking a bite.

"It tastes very good," he said, awed.

"It's just vegetables, dude," she replied, a bit perplexed.

 _Roaming freely, we have only had Berries to eat, along with the occasional scraps,_ Mew said, poking at a roast beef fragment it held aloft telekinetically. _Nothing as good as homemade food for a very long while._

"That's sad," she said honestly, bits of meat flying from her mouth as she spoke.

"It's not polite to talk with your mouth full, Denise," Aries said automatically, remembering being told the same by Oak and Mew so many times it had become a mantra.

"Shut up," she said, and that was the end of his advice. The rest of the meal progressed within the vacuum of silence, sporadically broken by Denise's coughs and hiccups when she swallowed too quickly, followed by Henry's quiet scolding as he patted her back.

"Why can't he use any Psychic-type abilities?" Aries asked, indicating Henry, halfway through his roast beef sandwich. He looked up, his ears flattening against his head.

"What happened to just being a privy psychic?" she said sourly.

"You misunderstand; I'm only privy with _you_ , Denise. You're just that special." She looked at him, confused, obviously trying to figure out if he was joking or not. "Henry, although similarly gruff, is more good-humored and less of a Sour Snorlax." He grinned at her, which she obviously didn't appreciate.

"He was a Bad Egg," she answered in-between gulps of hot chocolate from the thermos. Sensing there was more to the story, he sent a tendril of psychic energy prodding at her mind, fixing his attention on his sandwich so as not to appear suspicious. "Get out of my head!" she snapped, causing him to flinch.

"I apologize," he said, nonplussed. "That is how Mew and I communicate."

"I don't buy that," she said.

"Ah, it seems I underestimate your sagacity and intelligence."

"Hell yeah you do," she replied, though he doubted she knew what _sagacity_ meant. She threw a few pieces of her cupcake at him. "I'm no idiot, so don't treat me like one, a'ight?"

"I understand," he said, but that wasn't a consent to not making any more attempts on her mind, although if she could feel it, he would have to be more careful. "Anyway, we are done and we should proceed."

"Not so fast!" a male voice called, echoing off of the cavern walls. Aries heard a buzz, then he sensed a very angry Nidoking standing directly behind him. There was another buzz and Denise spun around just as a Hitmonlee materialized behind her. Mew plopped down next to Aries, alarmed, before disappearing from view nanoseconds later. Two men quickly followed, men with a very familiar ensemble of electric-blue hair and silver space suit-like wear.

"Team Galactic, is it?" Aries said, unperturbed. Denise thought for a minute.

"I remember you guys!" she exclaimed. "You're the crazy ones that think Dialga and Palkia are real—although Mew's real, so they might be—"

"Denise, I don't think that's the problem here," he said softly. She glared at him.

"Obviously, you're very worried about this situation," she said sardonically.

"I am; I simply don't wear my thoughts as you do."

"Shut it," one of the Grunts growled, his Nidoking prodding her in the back with his horn. Henry growled, fists clenched and ready to pulverize the Nidoking's shell until he had purchase at the soft skin inside where he could—Aries decided to bail out of his mind at that point, because Henry had enough horrible thoughts to give him a Dark-type.

"Do not fear, Denise, for I am here," Aries said, causing her to roll her eyes so hard he had a tangible fear they would fall out of her skull. He focused on the Grunt with the Nidoking, poking at his mind curiously. The Grunt grunted and scratched his head while Aries pulled back, confused. _He is immune to my telepathy,_ he spoke to Denise, being careful to keep their conversation mental.

 _Get outta my head,_ she replied, her eyes dangerous.

 _Denise, I will not look at your thoughts, however much they tempt me—and they really do, to be honest; it's a fun thing to be privy—because I do actually respect your privacy to some minute degree. We have to stick together right now, as we_ are _in an unknown and most likely dangerous situation._

 _Get outta my head,_ she repeated staunchly, turning to the side petulantly. He sighed, shaking his head.

"We're in Cavern 3B," the Hitmonlee's owner spoke into a walkie-talkie. "…Yes, sir, we'll wait."

 _Mew,_ Aries thought, stretching his mind around the room.

 _I'm here,_ it responded.

 _I cannot get into their minds._

 _I as well. Those blue wigs they wear are woven with tinfoil; primal, yes, but it has always been effective with repelling waves of psychic energy._

 _Can't you attack them to give us a chance to escape?_

 _Not so soon after that Gym battle; my power needs time to recover._

 _I understand,_ Aries said before turning his mind to Henry's. _Henry, can you hear me?_

 _Uh-huh, loud and clear,_ he replied.

 _Why don't you attack?_

 _That Nidoking is too close; he'd get her with Poison Jab before I could smash his brains in, and then what would we do? Your Antidotes don't work on people,_ he thought, grinding his teeth together. He muttered something aloud that sounded suspiciously like a Pokémon swear word that he may or may not have learned when Mew wasn't paying attention to him.

 _Hmm._

 _What?_

 _It's just that your logic, compared to Denise's, is very sound._

His expression calmed somewhat as he stared fondly at his Trainer. _She has her idiosyncrasies, yeah, but she's my best friend, and I love her. What's_ your _plan, anyway?_

 _I have no plan,_ Aries said. _My psychic energy can't penetrate their wigs._

 _That's officially the weirdest sentence I've ever heard._

"No telepathy," the Nidoking's Trainer suddenly snapped at Aries. He pursed his lips; he could easily have defied them—he _wanted_ to, matter of fact—but he didn't want the Nidoking to hurt Denise. He heard slow, confident footsteps approaching from one of the many tunnels in the mountain.

"Who's that?" Denise asked. The Nidoking jabbed her again, and Aries saw that Henry was literally seconds from disregarding the consequences and dealing with him. Luckily, both of them were spared by the arrival of another Team Galactic member.

"Good job, you two," the man said, coming to a stop a few feet away from Denise and Aries. The man looked familiar, with his dark, vacant eyes that lacked eyebrows and blue hair, but Aries couldn't place him. Denise, on the other hand, gaped, eyes and mouth wide.

"Team Galactic Leader Cyrus," she gasped. "I saw you on T.V. the other day. Why are you—why are we—?"

"Is she always so inarticulate?" Cyrus asked Aries, folding his hands neatly and professionally behind his back.

"No; usually, it's the opposite."

"Shut up," she snapped at him. Cyrus knelt down and grasped her chin with two fingers, locking his eyes with hers. She struggled a bit before staring back, hypnotized. Henry shouted in dissent and attempted to lunge at it only to be held back by the bulky Nidoking. After a long while, Cyrus pulled away.

"She's not the psychic," he said to his Grunts. "And though I'd hate to rule a variable out without investigation, the boy isn't either; he's too frail to have endured that sort of training."

Aries blinked as he noticed a tickling sensation on his forehead. He watched as a drop of blood fell from his nose to the ground. I hadn't even noticed I was injured, he thought. What Cyrus said was erroneous; psychic training needed only the mind, and the body would have to endure periods of starvation and insomnia, which made him nearly immune to certain things, including most pains. Apparently, Cyrus wasn't aware of that much, despite being on a search for the psychic. However, he did come frighteningly close to the truth; he was going to have to be more careful henceforth.

"We're sorry, sir!" the Nidoking's Grunt cried. "We heard that the psychic would be passing through here—and we thought—"

"Next time, don't _think_ ," Cyrus said in a very controlled voice. "Get your facts straight before we waste valuable time. Let's go." The Grunts returned their Pokémon, albeit grudgingly, letting Henry hit the ground with a pained grunt, and followed Cyrus down the tunnel they entered through. Aries waited until their footsteps completely vanished.

 _Team Galactic,_ Mew said anxiously, reappearing on his shoulder. He reached a hand up to stroke its head.

"Denise?" he said, turning to her. Her head was down and her curls obscured her face. Henry knelt down at her side, paws on her shoulders reassuringly. "Denise?" he repeated.

"What do they want with you?" she asked, looking at him. Her expression was an odd one; he couldn't place it immediately.

"I cannot tell; there are too many possibilities. Although, there could be—"

Mew suddenly gasped, and, without warning, leapt from Aries' shoulder and blasted through a tunnel ahead so quickly the air shimmered in its wake. Shortly after, a loud _boom!_ crackled through the cavern, causing it to tremble and vibrate as cracks broke through the Moonstone deposits. Henry gasped; Aries stood up. "Denise, we have to get out of here," he told her. She shook her head. "Denise…"

"Lucario!" Henry said to her. Aries listened to his thoughts.

"'Denise, do you need—'"

"I don't need help!" she said suddenly, getting to her feet and moving forward so abruptly Henry and Aries struggled to follow. She stumbled and staggered for a few strides before moving of her own accord, giving them enough time to catch up. They entered the tunnel just as the Moonstone started crumbling, filling the cavern with the glossy black stones.


	9. 14 Memoirs of Mewtwo

_Mew, where are you going?_ Aries tried. _What's going on?_

Again, he had no response, even though he could feel its presence not too far ahead. Whatever was going on was serious for it to not communicate with him. He suddenly hit something hard, both of them tumbling to the ground.

"Get offa me," Denise wheezed, flat on her stomach. He moved from on top of her, offering a hand; she pointedly ignored it, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. Henry wanted to laugh but held himself back, checking to ensure she was all right.

"Why did you stop, Denise?"

"Because she did." She pointed at Mew, who had halted in the mouth of the exit. Outside, an expanse of grass and scattered pines laid beneath the night sky. Mew was hovering inches away from the first blade of grass, its tail curling in a way he had long since learned to interpret as anxiety.

"Mew?" Aries asked.

 _It's there,_ Mew said to no one in particular, its voice fearful.

"Who is—"

" _I'm_ there," a low voice said ahead of them. Aries blinked; it took him a few seconds to realize that it was verbal, not mental. Something was standing far ahead into the outside, its figure a blur against the night sky, but he was pretty sure it wasn't human.

"Arceus," Denise whispered, pale. He stared at her, confused, until it occurred to him she was referring to the Pokémon in the distance. He couldn't read its mind from so far away, however he could sense its aura. Opening his mind to the energy, he immediately gasped; the Pokémon had such a strong, bellicose aura that it dug up all primal feelings of fear in his mind. It was so strong that he was fully certain that Denise could feel it, too, and Mew, in how scared it looked. Henry was the only one that appeared unaffected, looking between them in confusion.

"Don't be so rude; come to my face," the Pokémon continued. Aries felt something tighten around his navel area and then they were being pulled forward psychically, Denise and Henry behind him. Mew moved forward of its own accord, a tense expression on its face.

 _Mew, who is that?_ Aries wondered, staring as the Pokémon in the distance grew closer and more distinguished. It was tall—five or six feet—and had light purple skin and a long, violet tail. Its eyes were as red as blood and glowed with psychic energy. Mew looked older than it ever had before.

 _That,_ it said, _is Mewtwo._

 _Mew_ two? Suddenly the three of them came to a stop, tripping over each other and falling to the ground. Denise was the first to get up, moving as far away from Mewtwo as she could, followed by Aries and Mew, leaving only Henry within breathing distance of it. Mewtwo smirked at him.

"Why don't you flee as well? Oh, I see," it muttered in realization. "Inverted Psychic-type abilities. How cute, a defective Lucario."

"Lu, Lucario," Henry growled, clenching his fists.

"Who am I? I am the better version of that." It pointed a finger at Mew, who scrambled into Aries' cloak with a surprised yelp. "Hence my given name, Mew _two_."

"Lucario, lu lu cario, lu? Luca, Lucario?" Aries managed enough wits to slide into Henry's mind, clearing up his speech. 'And who gave you that name? Where the hell did you drag your sorry self out of, in other words?'

"Pod and nutrient solution," Mewtwo answered blandly.

'Hilarious,' Henry snorted. 'Now, what the hell are you trying to do, scaring Denise?'

"Denise," he repeated, staring at her. She cringed, which Aries sensed more than saw; luckily, she wasn't in her right mind enough to reprimand him for peeking into her mind. "Denise, hmm…eighteen years old, born in Pewter, raised in Pewter…" Mewtwo smirked. "Owns a collection of _My Little Ponyta: Pokémon is Magic_ DVDs."

"Shut up!" Denise's voice rang out from the darkness.

"Has a temper," it added before its eyes set on Mew still squirming in Aries' cloak. "And how have you been all these years, Mew? Although for us immortals, it has not been that long."

 _Your presence never means anything but bad news, Mewtwo,_ Mew said.

"Cruel, but accurate, at least." Mewtwo was silent for a moment, looking around at the trees waving in the cool night air and the dark sky barely lit by the crescent moon. "This space…this time…I should be the one in control of it, yet Cyrus beat me to the punch," it muttered.

'What the hell are you blabbering about?' Henry demanded. Mewtwo looked at him like he was a child that just couldn't learn.

"I'm saying that with the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb, Team Galactic Leader Cyrus can reform Dialga and Palkia, only under his command."

'Reform?' he repeated, confused. It looked amused now.

"Did Aries and Mew not tell you what happened to the Legendaries of the world?"

"What about the Legendaries?" Denise asked, but her voice was very low. Mewtwo laughed like a child, clapping its hands together.

"Oh, this will be _very_ amusing!"

"Aries?" she asked. He sighed, turning to her.

"Denise—"

 _Aries, you_ can't _tell her,_ Mew interrupted, putting its little paws on her shoulder. _Denise, it's not that I don't trust you—I honestly believe you can keep the secret—but bringing you further into this puts you at high risk of Silver's ire._

"I'm not afraid of Silver. Aries, tell me."

"Silver killed the Legendaries, Denise," he whispered, remembering the bone-crushing fear he felt that day eleven years ago. "He used Team Rocket's technology to kill them, all of them except for Mew."

Denise stared at him for a long time with a slightly-twisted expression, waiting, as it appeared from her thoughts, for the punchline to his very unamusing joke. After a few seconds she realized he was completely serious and her shoulders fell. "You can't be for real," she said. "He looked strong, yeah, but _all of the Legendaries_ …"

 _I never did see everything that happened,_ Mew whispered, shaking its head.

I _did_ , Aries said, taking a step forward. Denise started to speak but he interrupted, _I know you don't like me in your mind, Denise, but this is better_ seen _than heard._ And so, he showed her and Henry exactly what he saw eleven years ago. He could hear her mental commentary on it followed by some sort of facial reaction, from partial amusement to complete open-mouthed shock. When it was over, she was as pale as he was. She obviously had questions, her and Henry, but, anxious to answer them, Aries turned back to Mewtwo.

 _Why have you come?_ Mew demanded, also shaken from the memory. _You never come to visit without something relevant to say._

"I can't just visit my other for genial purposes?" it asked innocently. Mew shook its head, its large eyes hard. Mewtwo sighed. "Alright, alright. First, let me explain something for her benefit." It raised a hand and crooked its index finger; Denise was pulled forward from the shadows, her feet skidding in the dirt until she was next to Aries and Mew. Henry's jaw tensed but he made no moves against Mewtwo. "The Legendaries were created in the first place by the humans' wishes for change," it said to her dazed face. "Like for example, Articuno was made to calm blizzards, and Groudon to rein in the rampant volcanoes."

"So?" she said reluctantly.

"Although they're physically dead, their energy remains in the world—well, more specifically, the astral plane, but because our worlds have psychic links like Psychic-types such as myself and Mew or psy _chics_ like Aries there, the energy drains here, so the stronger psychics sense it—don't worry; the parapsychological is a hard concept to swallow," Mewtwo said patiently as she stared back, perplexed. "What I'm saying is that the Legendaries don't have bodies, but they're—what should I say?—their _spirits_ are here, but _spirits_ can't hold the world together. That's where my little kitten Mew comes in, to handle all of that big stuff, but as the Legendaries become more solid and sentient, they're becoming more like the beings that they were, except at this stage, they're easy to control, like a child that doesn't know anything better than to listen to their parents."

"I…get it," she said, the information swirling in her mind, although she did grasp the main part of it. "And… And Cyrus wants Dialga and Palkia, right? While they can still be controlled? So they can do his dirty work?"

"Exactly," Aries said quietly.

"But then why do they need you…I mean, a psychic?"

"The Legendaries are still too incorporeal for an average—and I use the term loosely—person like Cyrus to interact with, which is why he needs a psychic as a medium. On the other hand, an Alakazam would work just as fine as a human psychic," he muttered as a side note.

"Which leads me to what I wanted to say in the beginning," Mewtwo said, putting its hands together. "Team Galactic is a problem, but not at the moment, because, well, they're pretty clueless. On the other hand, Team Rocket—" it grimaced when it said their name, "—isn't."

"That's Silver's father's team," Aries said, eyes wide. Mewtwo nodded.

"Wherever you lot stored Deoxys, you did a poor job; Giovanni had it captured and is using its unique DNA/RNA mix as a template for Pokémon manipulation. As quickly as possible, get to his base in the souvenir shop. If you guys thought _it_ was powerful, you should see whatever else Giovanni's scientists can dish out when he's in a bad mood."

 _Like?_ Mew asked. Mewtwo narrowed its scarlet eyes.

 _Like_ me, it snapped telepathically. It Teleported away moments after. Aries stared at the spot where it was, confused.

"Why did it seem so offended?" he wondered. Mew appeared tense.

 _I'm…sorry. My thoughts were most likely what offended it. I just thought that, after Deoxys, nothing good could come of Team Rocket, and, well, there was more to it that Mewtwo took to heart—_

"Deoxys?" Denise repeated. "The thing that destroyed Pallet Town years ago? Team Rocket made that?"

 _It was accidental, but yes; it was their radio waves that went into space and mutated it._

"It was them," Aries repeated, his voice flat. Denise looked at him oddly; she was smarter than he gave her credit for, detecting the edge in his voice.

"Aries… With the thing in Pallet Town, were you…?"

"Lu!" Henry suddenly barked in warning, his eyes appearing almost psychically bright in the moonlight. Aries peered into his mind.

"What is it? What's coming?" he asked, confused. Mew gasped, sensing it too, although Aries still couldn't sense anything.

 _It's a Dark-type,_ it explained. _Henry senses it by power alone; I can feel its presence, but your powers still aren't honed enough for it, although I have no idea what Pokémon it is. Assume the worst._

There was a crash far off into the distance, although nothing was visible. Denise and Henry looked at Aries and Mew expectantly but he had no answers—it didn't either. They listened as the crash repeated itself, closer this time; Henry tensed for a fight and Mew formed a Shadow Ball on top of its head, ready to fire at the first sign of danger. Denise took a fighting stance that would've been cool if she didn't look like she was just dragged through two miles of bedrock. Suddenly, the space before them opened up like one of Palkia's portals. Mew held its breath, hope scrawled all over its small face, but instead of the large magenta dragon, a red and grey lump spilled out and onto the ground. Mew's smile fell as fast as it did.

 _Oh,_ it breathed.

"Oh?" Denise repeated, perplexed.

"Oh!" Aries exclaimed as the lump moved, rolling around like a great wet fur-ball. Actually, on second thought—it _was_ a great wet fur-ball. Disconcerted, Mew picked it up and spun it clockwise quickly enough that centrifugal force dried it off, although Aries did pick up a few scattered, profane thoughts from it in the process. Mew dropped it on the ground, where it threw up and rolled over.

"Sho—" Aries couldn't tell because its dark fur blended with the nighttime, but it looked like a male. "Roro—shoro—" Everything he said came out as one large slur.

"The hell is it saying?" Denise said, and Aries actually agreed.

"I think he just needs a PokéCenter," he said slowly, borrowing a PokeBall from Denise's pocket. He captured him easily. "What's the closest city? Cerulean?"

"For you, it's close. For _us_ —" she indicated herself and Henry, "—it's three miles."

"I'd imagine that someone of your upbringing is used to physical feats," he said dryly.

"Yeah, well…" She cut herself off, looking at Henry helplessly, who looked at Aries.

"Lucario, lu lu, cario," he said, shrugging. Aries looked into his mind; he said something along the lines of her admitting she might be too weak-kneed to make it.

"You're still scared, Denise?" he chuckled. He couldn't help being amused; he needed some humor after everything that had happened. Her thoughts became acidic enough to make him wince. "I'm not laughing _at_ you—it's just—"

" _It's just_ shut up before I break your face."

 _Denise,_ Mew said warningly, not quite as amused as he was. She gritted her teeth but didn't say anything else. Aries looked up at the moon.

"Well, we have a long night ahead of us; let us make the most of it."


	10. 15 Stone Cold

They did manage the trip to Cerulean City—a good long while later. Mew was no help psychically; she was too deep in thought to lend a helping hand—or brain cell, actually. Aries wanted to help, but his first two tries revealed that while he _could_ lift people, he couldn't keep their bodies straight, and she ended up in positions she usually got in for a game of _Twister_.

"Some yards left, dear Arceus," she groaned. "I don't think I can even make that. The soles've already worn off of my sneakers." Aries looked at her curiously. He was just like her and Henry, covered in mud and dirt and sweat, but he didn't look mad about it at all, weirdly.

"Do you want me to try—"

" _No I do not want you to try again_. I have a spine for a reason; I don't want it to break, thank you." He made that kicked puppy face again. "That won't work, moron; I'm getting used to it now."

"Lucario, lu," Henry said, smirking at her knowingly. She didn't need Aries to translate for that.

"And _no_ , I _don't_ like him, Henry." Aries watched her for a few seconds, an odd expression on his face. "If you don't _get out of my head_ —"

"Don't worry, I'm not reading your mind," he said coolly.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

His face didn't change, but she felt a little tingling at her left temple, like a Wurmple was trying to crawl through her skin. She slapped the side of her face instinctively. "Yeah! See? I said so!"

"I was proving a point," he said, scowling. "I can't invade your mind without you feeling it, strangely."

"Then… Then how I know Mew's not feeding you information?" she accused, even though Mew wasn't even paying them any attention.

"Mew is not as unscrupulous as you or me," he said simply. "It _wouldn't_ , while I _would_."

"So you admit to not having morals," she said edgily. He shrugged.

"Of course. I'm not prideful or anything; I'll admit that I'm just human, that, like you, I can be selfish too, and I can be mean, and I can unintentionally hurt other people, but I can also make friends, like…you."

"What makes you think I'm your _friend_?"

He smirked. "I don't think an acquaintance would've stayed with me after facing Mewtwo. Any brave man would have pissed his pants and ran away—you stayed."

"Yeah—well—well—"

"Oh, what a perfectly biting comeback!"

She grabbed him by the collar, waving her fist warningly. "If you don't stop playing—" She froze when he turned his face away, his expression terrified, and decided to let him go. He didn't say anything, but she got the feeling it wasn't the first time he got roughed up.

"We're almost there, Denise," he said brightly, and she couldn't tell if he was faking or not. She wished the mind-reading shoe was on the other foot.

 _How should we get to the Johto region after this?_ Mew wondered all of a sudden, startling Denise.

"Space portal?" Aries suggested, eyes fixed on Cerulean City in the distance.

 _No; our movements are most likely being tracked, either by Silver or Cyrus,_ she said.

"Okay, I can believe either one of those creeps are watching us, but _how_? There aren't exactly cameras in the open fields," Denise pointed out.

"Yes, but there are satellites in space, many of which Team Galactic and Team Rocket manufactured. It's child's play for them to use the feed to see us."

"That means they can see Mew, doesn't it?" she asked. Mew shook her head.

 _Capturing psychics requires a very high-resolution camera because the energy we displace causes the molecules around us to vibrate faster in lens, which in turn makes them reflective, and the more powerful the psychic, the harder it is to decode this mirror. I believe that even for Giovanni, this will take a while, too long for them to track us if we just pop in and out of Cerulean._

"Well I'm sorry, but I don't wanna just _pop in and out_ ," Denise complained. "I'm tired and hungry and I need a shower bad."

"Luca," Henry said in agreement, trying to shake the mud from his fur to no avail.

 _We don't have the time to—_

"Mew, please," Aries added. "Even if we were to go straight to Team Rocket's HQ, we'd be no match for them in this condition. Besides, we still have that mystery Pokémon to heal." Mew thought for a minute, then nodded. The rest of the walk was silent as they trudged across the grass, then it eased up a bit when they found the dirt pathway. Aries glanced at Denise, who was breathless, then at Henry, who was in the same condition.

"Why don't you return him to his PokeBall?" he asked.

"We—huh—lost it—ah—long time ago," she replied between breaths, trying to ignore the stinging pain of her bare heel coming in contact with sharp rocks in the dirt.

"Hm," he murmured thoughtfully.

"That's—hah—not fair, you know," she said, stopping. He stopped too, and so did Henry and Mew.

"What?"

"You're over there acting all mysterious and crap, hah, not telling me what you're thinking when you can always tell what I'm thinking."

"It isn't fair, is it?" he conceded, brushing his hair from his eyes. "Alright then; for every thought of yours that I see out of line, you get to 'see' one of mine."

"Then you already owe me, like, a hundred!"

He frowned a little, then smirked. "Let's start with two, but let's keep walking." They started again, Cerulean City so close she could smell the seawater in it and almost distinguish the people and Pokémon at the outskirts.

"Okay…. Um…" She had a lot of things she wanted to ask, but she had to pick two. "Where are you from really, 'cause since you're a human like me, you're not born or created or whatever like a Legendary."

He didn't answer for a while, walking forward purposefully. Then, "I'm from Pallet Town, Denise."

"The thing in Pallet Town… You are from there, then; you didn't answer me before. I mean, I can understand why, but…"

"What." His voice was somewhat edgier.

"Nothing. And how did you meet Mew?"

"It saved my life," he replied.

"Legendaries save lives?"

"Of course; they _do_ feel emotions, like regular people or Pokémon. Mew is actually very compassionate."

"Like I can tell," she muttered. Henry suddenly barked, running forward. Denise looked up and realized that they were a few feet away from the entrance; she could hear and see the hustle and bustle of Cerulean City. She chased after him, eager to make it to the Pokémon Center and the beds it held.

They made it there a few minutes before Aries and Mew did, bursting through the doors. The wall clock said it was ten minutes past three in the morning; the PokéCenter was very empty as a result, with only one Trainer and his Golem sitting in the chairs. Nurse Joy and her Chansey gasped when they barreled through and they recoiled a little when Denise went up to the counter. "We need a room for two," she demanded. Nurse Joy nodded after her shock wore off and started typing in the computer, which was when Aries showed up by himself.

"Good evening," he said, approaching their counter. Nurse Joy's Chansey looked at him strangely; he returned the look and she turned away a little too quickly. He pulled out the strange Pokémon's PokeBall and set it on the counter. "Can you please heal this Pokémon, and get us two rooms too?"

"She already asked for a room," Nurse Joy replied, checking her computer. "I'm sorry; usually, we separate boys and girls, but there's only one room available for you two."

"H- _Huh_?" She hadn't even realized she asked for a single room, and it turned out they had to share anyway? Nurse Joy reached under the counter and handed them a room key before taking Aries' PokeBall.

"This will be ready by morning," she said. "Goodnight, you two."

"Aagh!" Denise groaned, kicking the nearest chair and instantly recoiling in pain from the metal base. Henry had that kind of tense face that meant he wanted to laugh but held it in for her sake—and damn smart of him too, lest she kick him where he absolutely did not want to be kicked.

The room was at the end of a long hall; a few other doors were open, and Denise saw a lot of other Pokémon Trainers and their Pokémon. Some of them had Pokémon from other regions, which meant they travelled a long way. She wondered how it felt to always be moving, stopping just to fight a Gym, travelling around the region until you beat the Pokémon League and became Champion. Dee told her he made it to the eighth Gym, which meant he was eligible to fight the Elite Four, but that he stopped there. She wished she had asked him why.

Their room was plain with a wooden floor, white walls, a window, and twin beds on either side. There was a bathroom on one side; Denise was the first inside, locking the door to make sure Aries didn't try anything. She dropped her backpack and clothes and took a long, hot shower and she'll be damned if it didn't feel like the best thing in the world. She stayed under until the water going down the drain changed from muddy to clear and dried herself off, digging out a t-shirt and shorts from her bag. When she opened the door, Aries was sitting on the edge of the right bed laughing with Henry. A familiar Wurmple was curled up in the corner, fast asleep.

"Hey, what's so funny?" she asked. She got annoyed when they continued laughing for ten more seconds.

"Well, Henry had a fascinating story of you as a kid," he said, wiping his eyes. "Said that you tried giving mud pies to your first crush, and he thought it was chocolate until he saw the Wurmple Eggs—" He had to stop talking because he and Henry started laughing again. She threw her backpack at him angrily, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Go take a damn shower," she snapped, stomping over to her own bed and dropping onto it, fumbling with a rubber band and her hair. Aries was still laughing as he went into the bathroom, shutting the door. Henry sat at the foot of Aries' bed, chuckling under his breath. "Yeah, keep laughing and you won't get any breakfast."

"Lu," he said apologetically, but he didn't stop.

"At least apologize with a straight face!"

He coughed and cleared his throat. "Lucario."

"Fine, fine, whatever, I'll take that." She rolled over to face the wall. The room was silent save for the sound of the shower in the bathroom. She let her mind wander and it instantly returned to the events of that day. To be honest, those last twenty hours were the most interesting of her entire life. If I keep travelling with him, she thought, then there'll be a lot more interesting times, for sure. But then there's Silver to worry about, and Cyrus too, and…Mewtwo. She shivered at the thought of its name.

"Luca?" Henry said, concerned.

"I'm alright," she murmured, shaking her head. I can't be scared, 'cause then Henry'll get worried, she thought. And I don't need Henry to be any more worried than he already is for me. She heard the water shut off in the bathroom, then Aries asked if she had any spare clothes for him to sleep in. "They won't fit, midget," she called back.

"Doesn't matter," he replied. She sighed.

"Henry, give him a shirt and pants." She heard Henry go through her bag, then the bathroom door creaked open and shut again. A few minutes later, the door opened.

"Henry, you can go clean up now, although the shower's not that clean anymore," Aries said.

"Lucario."

"You're welcome." The door shut again and the shower turned on again. She heard Aries going through her bag and sat up instantly.

"Hey, you can't—"

"Hmm?" he asked, propping the window open and setting his wet cloak and clothes on the ledge. "I was just borrowing a towel." He looked a lot smaller without his cloak, like a twelve-year-old or thirteen-year-old. Actually…

"Hey, how old are you?"

"Me?" he said. "I'm sixteen."

Sixteen, she thought. Two years younger than me, and yet…

"'And yet he looks so small and fragile,'" he finished aloud, getting a towel and straightening up.

"Hey," she snapped. "You owe me a thought for that."

"Oh, yes," he conceded with a sigh, sitting on the edge of his bed and drying his hair. "Old habits are hard to break. What do you want to know?"

"Ugh… What do you think of me?" she asked without really thinking about it. He raised an eyebrow. "I can't tell with the way you act; it's like you never had a friend before."

"I do not know; friends do not constantly threaten other friends."

"I wasn't serious that time."

"Which time exactly? The thirteenth?" He smirked as she groaned. "I haven't had a friend, by the way," he answered. "Not before Mew."

"Oh. Alright." Henry saved them from an awkward silence by emerging from the bathroom, a towel around his shoulders.

"Lucario!" he exclaimed happily, throwing his fists in the air.

"Anyway, I'm beat," she said quickly, pointing at the lamp on her bedside table. Henry finished drying himself off before flipping the lights off. The room instantly became dark with the moon and stars throwing a few bits of light on the floor. She pulled the covers up over her head, feeling Aries' eyes on her.

"Lu?" Henry said curiously.

"Go to sleep," she snapped, rolling over. Henry didn't say anything else, but she could still feel Aries' eyes on her until she fell into a dream-filled sleep.

—

When Denise woke up, the sun was high in the sky. It looked like it was ten or eleven in the morning. She sat up yawning and saw that while Henry was sleeping at the foot of her bed, Aries' bed was made neatly and he was gone, although his clothes were still on the windowsill and the bathroom was open and empty. She was just about to go looking for him when the room's door opened and he showed up with three metal trays stacked on top of each other.

"I brought breakfast," he said brightly, which annoyed her to no ends. There was a small folding table in the corner of the room, which Denise set up. Aries chose the same breakfast for all of them, or maybe the PokéCenter had one breakfast: scrambled Pidgey eggs, Grumpig bacon, toast, and a bottle of orange juice. Mew woke up when they started eating and Aries gave her a slice of toast with some eggs.

 _It tastes like individual elements and molecules,_ she complained.

"Then don't eat it," Denise snapped, shoving as much of her eggs in her mouth as she could.

"Denise, you'll choke," Aries warned.

"Shut up," she said, swallowing. Henry pretended to be highly focused on balancing all of his eggs on his toast, staying out of the conversation.

"Fine," he sighed, taking a bite of his toast. She gave him a few angry looks between bites; it wasn't her fault she was freaking starving, and it didn't help that he acted like eating was just a pastime. He had to be hungry too, since they did the same things the other day, but he sure as hell didn't show it.

"Also," he continued, startling her a little. He set a PokeBall on the table. "I stopped by Nurse Joy on my way to the café and I reclaimed this."

Denise picked up the PokeBall and pressed the button. It popped open and a red beam shot out and onto the floor. When the light died down, the grey and red thing was back again, except this time it was dry and glaring at them with narrowed blue eyes. _Who the hell are you all?_ it growled. It took Denise a few seconds to realize it was speaking telepathically, and a few more to realize that she'd become so desensitized to weird stuff that she wasn't surprised at all, although she still couldn't recognize the Pokémon.

"…I see," Aries murmured. "And where is he now?"

 _What?_ the Pokémon said, confused. It stared at Aries for a long while before it muttered, _Psychic, of course._

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Denise demanded. "And what the hell are you?"

 _Sick of dirty humans, I am,_ it snapped, lurching to its feet. It was tall, Aries' height, with grey fur all over its body and long red fur like hair on its head.

"He is a Zoroark," Aries said. "A Unova Pokémon."

A Unova Pokémon? she thought. No wonder I didn't recognize it.

 _I'm_ the _Zoroark, idiot,_ he snapped, apparently offended. _The king of my pack._

"You were," he corrected softly. The Zoroark narrowed his eyes at Aries.

 _Look, do you want to take this outside, because I have zero qualms about taking a human down and beating your scrawny little—_

"ENOUGH!" she shouted, causing both of them to fall silent and look at her. "You can argue and pick fights all you want but not when I'm eating, or else you'll be pickin' a fight with _me_ , and trust me when I say you'll lose that one. Do I make myself clear?" she snapped at the Zoroark. He still scowled, but he went to a corner and sat down, not making another sound. "Good," she huffed, turning back to her breakfast.

 _Okay, well, maybe I won't fight_ every _human,_ the Zoroark muttered.

"Denise is the one opponent I believe even Arceus would lose to," Aries laughed, earning a glare from her.

"Lucario, Luca, Lucario," Henry said, finally adding in his two cents. Aries laughed again.

"'She was always the one saving Dee and Derrick from playground bullies in elementary school. Half of them can't have kids of their own today.'"

"You might join them," she warned, bringing Henry back to his eggs-and-toast monomania.

"In any case," he said, "what's your name, friend?"

 _Hah! I'm not your friend,_ the Zoroark grumbled, turning his back to them so that he looked like a fluffy red pillow. She vaguely wondered if it was possible to smother a pillow.

 _His name is Theophilus,_ Mew supplied.

"A very profound name," he said somewhat admirably. Theophilus snorted, but even Denise could tell he was pleased at that. "What happened to you, Theophilus?" Aries asked. He got no response, and he apparently respected Theophilus' privacy more than Denise's, because he didn't try to pry. "Please tell me; I did try to help you by bringing you to the Pokémon Center, you know."

 _Fat load of good that'll do me, what with Val still hot on my—_ He cut himself off, writhing a little in his spot.

"Who is Val?" Denise asked, and of course, she didn't get a response. Aries suddenly gasped, taking up Theophilus' PokeBall.

"I forgot to release you," he said. "Hold on—"

"Yeah, hold on," she said, putting her hand on his to stop him. He looked up at her in interest. "Don't release him just yet."

"What?" _What?_ Aries and Theophilus said at the same time, although the latter yelled it, leaping to his feet and turning back to them. _The hell are you talking about,_ _"Don't release him just yet?"_

"I'm talking about what I'm talking about," she said, unperturbed. That seemed to scare him and Aries and Henry more than if she was mad. "You're really annoying me, and 'cause I have morals enough to not attack someone that's just had their butt kicked, I won't touch you— _however_ , I _will_ keep you until I find your problem and solve it myself, just to get a word of gratitude out of you."

He made a grimace so bad she assumed that for him, apologizing was tantamount to suicide. _And what if I don't wanna apologize, huh?_

She smiled. "You get to be _my_ Pokémon." Theophilus completely froze.

"Lucario," Henry said, shaking his head.

 _'_ _If there was ever a punishment worse than death,'_ Mew translated, taking bites from Aries' tray while he was watching the exchange between her and Theophilus.

"Indeed," Aries agreed.

 _Alright, alright!_ Theophilus said, throwing his claws in the air. _I give up! Fine, you guys can help,_ he sighed. _But that doesn't make me like you trash any more. And you can't win against Val._

"Who's Val?" Aries asked this time, putting his hand on her arm to stop her from rushing Theophilus.

 _Valentine,_ he repeated with both distaste and fear, _is the guy who wants my head on a platter—and my big brother._

—

Denise and Aries checked out of the PokéCenter a few hours later when their clothes were clean and dry. (For whatever reason, he had washed her shirt and jeans too, which she appreciated since she didn't have money to buy a new outfit but didn't thank him out loud for.) Theophilus whined about it while they were out on an empty street near the entrance to Cerulean Cave, trying to figure out how to get to Johto.

"Plane tickets are out of the question," Aries said, Mew in his arms. At Denise's badgering, she had changed into an Eevee.

"Why? 'Cause you're broke?" Denise asked, ignoring Theophilus' ringing protests in her head. Aries did too, although he did look at Theophilus several times.

"No, I'm just scared of heights," he said very plainly.

"What? With all that crap that happened to you years ago, you're scared of _heights_? What, are you afraid the moon'll fall on you?"

"Lucario, Luca, Lucario?" Henry asked.

"I believe either Denise or Theophilus would go crazy, in that case," Aries said.

"What?" she asked.

"Henry suggested a boat."

"I don't like this," she complained. "Why don't you teach me how to understand Pokémon, at the very least?"

"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully. "It isn't that hard, and with the strength of the bond you and Henry could… Alright, I will, but on the way."

"Why don't we travel by Rapidash?" she suggested.

"They're hard to find; harder to tame."

"You can't…?"

"Some things are immune to even my boundless charm," he said, although she couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

 _Even so,_ Mew said, _we can't ride Rapidash across the water._

"What about teleportation?" she asked. "I mean, that's a Psychic-type move, isn't it?"

"Maybe in a different time," Aries said, "but right now, with all of this baggage… And besides, teleportation becomes iffy after a certain amount of mass; you're more likely to teleport and leave a few extremities behind."

"Like?"

"Well… How well would you fare without, say, your right arm?"

 _This is stupid!_ Theophilus exclaimed, getting a sharp look from Henry this time. _Oh, like I'm scared of a Psychic-type with no Psychic-type abilities,_ he scowled, crossing his arms over his bushy chest.

"Luca," Henry snapped, turning to him with his fists clenched.

 _You can't hurt me,_ Theophilus said.

"Lucario," Henry said bitterly, cracking his knuckles. Denise grabbed his arm.

"I'm all for you knockin' his brains out, Henry, but he may actually be useful against you-know-who and you-know-what, so spare him, please?"

Henry moved away from Theophilus, although he kept a grimace on the whole time. "I know!" Denise said. "Warp pad!"

"Warp pad?" Aries repeated, confused.

"You know, that crap Team Rocket invented that'll take you anywhere in seconds!"

"Doesn't that entail—I don't know—finding and infiltrating a Team Rocket base?"

"We can do that, no sweat."

 _Yes, "sweat,"_ Mew countered. _Even if we don't consider Silver, who is one of their stronger Trainers, the Executives are currently in Kanto, and they make for strong protection._

"But we have you," Denise said. "And Henry and this wacko here."

 _Who says I'm helping you?_ Theophilus snorted.

"Can you, please?" Aries asked.

 _No,_ he said. _I'm not gonna help out any humans because you all are some useless, selfish bastards and I'm ten times better off without any of you buggin' me!_ he yelled before he vanished. Like, vanished vanished—he completely disappeared a second later. Then:

"He's still here," Aries said quietly.

"What is he, invisible?"

"Something like that; he is creating an illusion for our physical eyes, but my mind's eye can still perceive his thoughts. We can't touch him though," he said when she started kicking where Theophilus was standing seconds ago.

Frustrated, she pulled out his PokeBall and pressed the return button. The red flash scattered everywhere for a minute before finally catching Theophilus' form, pulling him back inside. "So we're going to a Team Rocket base?"

Aries thought for a long while. "I can't think of anything better, so…"

"Lucario," Henry shrugged.

 _This is madness,_ Mew said, but she was outvoted.

"Then it's settled," Denise said. "Let's start looking."


	11. 16 Ancient History

After everyone (except Mew) agreed on looking for a Team Rocket base, they split apart, Denise, Henry, Aries, and Mew searching around Cerulean for any information on a base. They reunited three hours later in front of the Bike Ship looking as desolate as when they started.

"No information, huh?" Denise sighed.

"No," Aries said.

"Lu," Henry said.

 _Nothing,_ Mew said.

"For a mafia group, they're pretty low-key," she said, shaking her head. "Anyway, I'm hungry." She checked her wallet, which only had a couple of dollars inside.

"I'm broke," Aries shrugged.

"Luca."

"Then what do we do?" She looked around and saw two Trainers with a Houndour and Rapidash battling. At the end, the losing Rapidash's Trainer gave the Houndour's Trainer thirty dollars.

"Battle?" Aries suggested, following her eyes. "I mean, I'm not a Trainer, but you and Henry could…"

"Battling!" she exclaimed. "I forgot that Cerulean City has a Gym! I could go there and get a Badge right now!"

"Denise—"

"It'll be quick, I promise!" She took off with Henry behind her, searching for the Gym. It was easy to find: a large building near the center of the city with a Dewgong statue on the front. She burst through the doors into the main area. The Gym was as spacious as the one in Pewter, except instead of rocks and dirt, it had a large swimming pool in the center and a lifeguard's seat at the far end with wet bleachers for whatever audience there might be. In the front were two pillars like in the Pewter Gym, though, and there was a man leaning against one of that looked a lot like—

"Bill?" she asked, pointing at him. He stared at her in confusion.

"My name's Billy," he said. She stared back, completely caught off-guard. Is this another Nurse Joy thing? she thought. What is this, a cloning project? Billy looked at the Gym. "Anyway, this is the Cerulean Gym, and the Gym Leader's Misty up there. This Gym uses Water-type Pokémon, so it'd be smart of you to use Electric-type or Grass-type Pokémon. If you beat this Gym, you'll receive the Cascade Badge from her."

"Alright," Denise said. "You ready, Henry?"

"Luca!" he said, pumped. They ran forward to the southern edge of the pool, which was when the girl on the lifeguard's tower jumped down to the northern side. She looked a little younger than Denise with dark red hair and a blue jacket over an orange one piece swimsuit.

"You're the newest challenger?" she asked.

"Yeah, obviously."

"Well, I'm Misty, and I'm sure Billy already explained the Gym rules to you, so we'll get started."

Billy sighed and walked to the eastern end of the pool. "This battle is between Gym Leader Misty and…"

"Denise."

"…and Denise. Both Trainers will use three Pokémon each, each being allowed to substitute as they want, and the battle is over when a Trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle or a Trainer forfeits. Now, get on with it."

Misty pulled a PokeBall from her pocket. "Lapras, I choose you!" she announced, pressing the button. The red light landed in the pool and a Lapras surfaced.

"Henry," Denise said. He nodded and jumped forward onto the closest safety line, balancing on his toes. "You first."

Misty raised her eyebrows. "Alright, then. Lapras, use Rain Dance!"

"La!" her Lapras sang, raising its head to the ceiling. Dark clouds suddenly manifested, and in an instant a heavy rain was falling over the Gym. While Billy pulled out an umbrella and Misty was already dressed for water, Denise felt her clothes getting soaked again. She hoped the rain was clean at the very least.

"Now Lapras, Surf!"

Her Lapras raised its flippers and drew the water up to eight feet high, throwing it towards Henry; he tensed before leaping into the air, although Denise was not nearly as he fast and was thrown onto her back. "Lucario!" he said apologetically.

"It doesn't matter!" she called back, pushing her wet hair from her face. "Aura Sphere!"

Henry, still in the air, pulled his paws back and shot a ball of bright blue energy at Lapras. Lapras, astonished at the speed, was hit head-on and disappeared underwater.

"Lapras!" Misty called.

"Lapras," Lapras said, surfacing with a nasty bruise on its head.

"Lapras, Surf again!"

Lapras used Surf again, but this time Henry was just coming down and was therefore caught in it. When the wave died down, Henry was gone. Denise stared at the surface; she could see his shadow in it. "Henry!" she shouted. "You know what to do!"

"He's underwater," Misty said. "He can't hear—"

Henry leapt from the water at Lapras' end and grabbed its neck. Surprised, it didn't have a reaction when he flipped it over his head and onto dry land, attacking it with Close Combat. It couldn't defend on land or with its flippers, so it took Henry's beating easily. Suddenly, Lapras dissolved into red light, returning to Misty's PokeBall. "What happened? Decided it was too weak?" Denise taunted. Misty swapped PokeBalls, completely serious now.

"Golduck!" She released a Golduck onto the field. It eyed Henry dangerously.

"Henry, Close Combat!"

"Disable!" Misty cried when Henry was inches away. Golduck's eyes glowed through the sheets of rain and Henry froze mid-punch.

"Henry?"

"Lu," he said, shaking his head and throwing another punch. He froze again, looking confused.

"Use Psychic," Misty said. Golduck's eyes glowed again as a pink light surrounded Henry. His jaw clenched in frustration as he tried to break free, then it shot him all the way back into the pool. Henry just barely managed to catch himself on the edge, landing in front of Denise.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Lucario," he said, glaring at Golduck.

"Henry, use Swords Dance." Henry closed his eyes in concentration and several ethereal swords manifested around him, circling him until he was glowing with energy. "Now, Extremespeed." He vanished, moving too quickly for her to see.

"Golduck, spread your Psychic wide to catch him!" Misty ordered. Golduck's eyes glowed again as it spun around, searching. Denise bit her lip. Make it, she thought, please make it—

"Luca!" Henry shouted, coming into view a few feet away from Golduck. It laughed triumphantly before throwing him up into the center of the arched ceiling with a loud _thud!_ Henry gasped in pain as it began falling. Denise looked at Golduck worriedly; it was biding its time, ready to throw him again. She needed a way to beat his Psychic; damn, if only Henry could use Psychic too—

But Misty and her Golduck don't know he can't use Psychic, she thought. "Henry…use Psychic."

He landed at the edge of the pool, looking at her in disbelief. She wished that she could be telepathic like Aries, but instead she looked at him pleadingly, hoping he'd agree. His eyes widened and he gave her a thumbs-up; her shoulders fell in relief. He focused on Misty's Golduck, his eyes glowing bright red and his appendages floating in the air. Her Golduck flinched and covered itself in preparation for…nothing. When nothing happened it dropped its guard, surprised, which was when Henry lunged at it with a point-blank Aura Sphere. It hit her Golduck in the stomach, throwing it back a few feet, and he grinned as he charged it again and attacked.

"Golduck, Psychic!" Misty tried, but Golduck couldn't focus with Henry attacking him in every direction with paws and feet. He finally relented when Golduck was shaky on its feet, webbed fists clenched feebly. "Water Pu—"

"Shadow Claw!" Denise interrupted. Henry struck with Shadow Claw once, forcing Golduck on one knee. "Again!" Again. "Again!" Again.

"Disable!" Golduck's eyes glowed and Henry froze in the middle of his fourth attack. "Psychic!" Golduck's eyes glowed again and Henry went flying into the far western wall of the Gym hard enough to send bits of plaster flying.

"Extremespeed!" Denise called. Henry hit the ground and disappeared; Golduck tried to catch him with Psychic, but his waves might've just missed because Henry slammed into him seconds later, throwing him into the bleachers with a _crash!_ "Finish it off with Dragon Pulse!" Henry grunted as he formed a ball of blue, red, and gold energy, and as soon as Golduck looked up, he struck it. Golduck cried out once before tumbling off of the bleachers and to the ground in a limp pile.

"Golduck is unable to continue," Billy said unenthusiastically. She missed Bill's passionate refereeing. "The winner is Lucario."

As Misty returned her Golduck, Henry shuffled back to Denise. "We did it," she said, holding her fist out. He bumped her fist with his, a weak smile on his face. Misty sent out her Lapras again.

"Lapras, Surf," she said, even as the rain above faded into a light drizzle. Denise wrung her hair out gratefully as Henry turned ahead, facing the wave that approached them from the other side of the field. He moved out of the way, but he was slower than before.

"Henry, are you good?" Denise asked him.

"Lu," he said, nodding. She expected that; he was never a person to admit when he was beaten.

"Dragon Pulse again."

"Lapras, dodge!" Misty tried, but her Lapras was still injured from before. Henry's attack hit it in the face, stunning it; he moved closer and dealt it a good old fashioned fist to the face. Her Lapras collapsed into the water and didn't surface again; Misty returned it and pulled out her last PokeBall. "Starmie, use Rapid Spin!"

The red light her PokeBall created shot through the air and slammed into Henry's head; he stumbled before tumbling into the water, followed by Misty's Starmie. It picked him up with Psychic and threw him so far back Denise had to catch him lest he bowl into her. "Henry?" she asked, shaking his shoulders. He groaned, and as soon as she released him he crumpled to the ground.

"Lucario is unable to continue, the winner is Starmie," Billy said. Denise tugged him to one of the pillars in the lobby and propped him up against it.

"Alright, rest until I win this thing." She walked back to the pool and fingered the other PokeBall in her pocket. Arceus give me strength, she thought before pulling it out and pressing the button. The red light shot out and landed in front of her, disappearing seconds later. Misty and Billy looked in interest at Denise's choice. "Theophilus, I really need you to battle for me."

 _There it goes, right there! Humans forcing Pokémon to battle in some stupid game!_ He started up right off the bat, crossing his arms over his chest. Denise tried hard not to roll her eyes or sigh.

"I'm not forcing you, I'm asking you. _Please_? I need the money from it."

 _It's my choice, huh? I_ choose _not to,_ he said, dropping to the floor and crossing his legs. She clenched her fists and glanced at Misty, who was watching them in interest.

"Is that a Psychic-type Pokémon?" she asked, pointing at Theophilus.

"You could say that," Denise said, but in reality she had no idea what his type was. "Theophilus, just this once—please—I'll do anything in return."

His hair bristled. Anything _, you say?_

"Uh-huh." Arceus knows I'll regret it, she thought. Theophilus didn't move for a while, then he stood up, pointing a red claw at her.

 _I never forget, keep that in mind. I'll do this and this alone—for the next two minutes, I'm your Pokémon._

"Two minutes," she repeated bitterly.

 _It'll take me less than that, actually, to beat something like this,_ he said, cracking his knuckles.

"But wait—I don't even know your moves, or your type—"

 _Doesn't matter; I'm still not taking orders from a damn human._

A little arrogant of you, she thought dryly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Alright then, do your thing."

Theophilus looked towards the sky as a sudden blast of heat filled the room. Misty flinched; her Starmie slid deeper into the water. Within a second, he was moving so fast he was a grey blur, headed straight towards Misty's Starmie.

"Starmie, dodge!" Misty shouted, but before it could even move, Theophilus struck. Denise had to gasp; he was fast—faster than Henry—and strong too, leaping back after leaving a deep score in Starmie's purple skin. "Ice Beam!" Starmie rose from the water and spun as it released a beam of bright blue energy. Theophilus used Flamethrower; the two attacks met in the middle and dissolved into a cloud of steam.

 _You're insulting my great strength,_ he said as his body emitted dark smoke. The smoke moved in Starmie's direction; it used Rapid Spin, trying to scatter the smoke, but it was consumed very quickly. The smoke vanished seconds later and Starmie was left bobbing on the pool's surface.

"Starmie?" Misty's Starmie righted itself, wobbling a little. "Psychic!" Seconds passed but nothing happened. "Starmie, try Psychic again." This time, Starmie's gem glowed, but nothing happened to Theophilus.

"Theophilus?" Denise asked. He shook his fur out, hands on his hips.

 _As if that'd work against me,_ he snorted. He put his hands together and formed a ball of whirling purple energy. He fired his Shadow Ball at Starmie, who caught it psychically and threw it back; he dispelled the energy with a swipe of his claws and lunged forward, a Horror movie-type smile on his face.

"Starmie, use Water Gun!" Misty commanded. The attack was nullified by Theophilus' Flamethrower, then he was within breathing space (assuming Starmie breathed). He laughed aloud before hitting it with Shadow Claw, forcing it underwater, and he followed it down.

"Theophilus!" Denise called. A few bubbles rose to the surface, then she and Misty had to move away from the water as a series of attacks came through, straying onto the Trainer's posts. Denise was almost frozen, barbecued, and fileted before the attacks stopped. Both Trainers stared at the water anxiously.

"Is it a tie?" Billy wondered.

"Are they…?" Denise wondered.

Suddenly there was a _boom!_ and half of the pool rose into a giant wave, splashing free and wetting the entire Gym. Denise groaned as she started wringing her hair out again; Misty wiped her eyes before staring into the pool. Something jumped out onto dry land. _Two minutes and two seconds; I'm getting shabby,_ Theophilus said, holding Starmie's unconscious body between his claws.

"S-Starmie!" Misty cried, returning her Pokémon. Theophilus snorted, bending over and shaking his thick fur dry.

"Starmie is unable to battle; the winner is…whatever the hell that thing is," Billy said, flicking his hand in Theophilus' direction. He bristled angrily, crossing his arms. "The winner of the battle is Denise."

"That was an interesting fight," Misty said. Denise didn't expect anything else, but suddenly there was applause from the bleachers.

"Truly," Aries said, smiling. Denise ignored him for the time being and approached Misty; Misty held up the shiny Cascade Badge before dropping it in Denise's palm, followed by two hundred and fifty dollars. Denise admired the Badge for two seconds before chucking it at Aries; it hit him in the forehead, causing him to slip off of the soaked bleachers and onto the ground with a _thud_.

"I could've used you-know-who when you-know-who-the-bastard-is wouldn't listen," she said heatedly. Aries smiled apologetically, rubbing the red mark on his forehead.

"It's not here," he said, and Denise realized that he was alone. "It found a base and sent me to tell you—very interesting battle, by the way. Ingenious. And to think you tamed the untamable Theophilus—"

"I didn't," she said bitterly. She heard him cackling behind her and angrily returned him to his PokeBall. Aries' eyes scanned her face.

"You promised him something," he said.

"You owe me!" she said angrily. "You owe me a thought, you freaking brain-peeper."

"Well then?"

"…I can't think of one right now, but I will." She shoved the Badge in her pocket and stared at the money. "At least I can get new clothes now."

—

"Where's that base?" Denise asked, shoving her worn-out clothes into her backpack. Aries didn't hear her at first, intent on his chocolate wafer strawberry something-or-other Castelia Cone that she was surprised they sold in Kanto and more so surprised that one of 'em costed eight dollars. "Aries!"

"Huh?" He looked at her.

"The base!"

"Oh, um, right." He looked at the Thrift Shop she just visited. "Secondhand clothing?"

"Shut up; it's the best I can do without blowing all of our cash." she argued. She did manage to pick up some normal, minimally-worn clothes: a blue hoodie, cargo shorts, and a newish pair of Running Shoes. "And you're getting off-topic!"

"I apologize," he said, looking anything but sorry. Then he blinked, looking to her side. "Where's Henry?"

"Pokémon Center."

"We can't go without him; there might be Grunts to fight."

"We have Mew!"

"I don't like pushing it to fight," he said apologetically. "You know it already has so much responsibility."

"I guess you're right," she grumbled. "Then what do we do in the meantime?"

He looked at her pocket. "I think we should get to know Theo."

"Theo—you mean Theophilus?"

"Yes; I believe _Theo_ is less of a mouthful, don't you?" His smile was dazzlingly sickening.

"I'm not trying to get friendly with a rat that's had too many trips to the hair salon."

 _You're the only rat here!_ he said, appearing beside Aries.

"How did you get out?" Denise snapped.

 _PokeBalls can't hold me!_

"You must have hit the button when you leaned against that pillar," Aries said, pointing at the pillar next to her.

"I should've tossed it when I had the chance," she sighed.

 _Hey! Remember, you owe me something!_

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. The hell do you want?"

 _Hm…_ He actually thought about it for a minute. _You got money, right?_

"Sure."

 _Take me to the best restaurant here._

"And that is—?"

"House of Staryu," Aries answered. She looked at him evenly. "We passed by a lot of businesses searching for the base."

"House of Staryu… I remember we had that place in Pewter. It was like this real fancy seafood place for people and their Pokémon… Dude, that'll cost all of my money!"

 _Exactly,_ he grinned. _How's it feel now, using Pokémon to fight your battles? I'm getting my reward, or else._ He flashed his claws dangerously.

"Fine!" she said. "Just you—"

"I'm a bit hungry too," Aries interjected. She gave him a murderous look. "On second thought, I'm not all that hungry."

"You're a conniving, devious Rattata, aren't you?"

 _Aw, you flatter me,_ he said.

"Wish I could _flatten_ you." It didn't help that he continued smirking at her. She didn't think she could hate a Pokémon so much, but there he was.

—

 _Wow, that was good!_ Theo said on their way back to the PokéCenter. _That Dragalge Soup and the boiled Clauncher with the Tentacruel Sushi Surprise—who knew poison could taste so good distilled?_

"It better have been delicious for two hundred dollars," Denise grumbled, hands in her pockets.

 _Don't act like that!_ he snapped, but the grin never left his face. _I saved you something out of the goodness of my heart!_

"Fish bones may count as food for _you_ , but not for people."

 _Ingrate,_ he muttered. She moved past him into the PokéCenter before she tried to throttle him. There were a dozen trainers in the waiting room, only two of them with Pokémon, and Nurse Joy wasn't at the counter, but her Chansey was.

"Chansey?" Denise called. She looked up from her rapid typing on the computer screen. "My Lucario—is he healed?"

"Chansey, chance," she said. Denise turned to Aries.

"She said yes, but he still needs some rest," he said.

"But I don't have any patience left. Where is he?"

"Chansey!" she said, shaking her head determinedly.

"Show me!"

"Chan!"

"She takes her job very seriously," Aries noted.

"Shut up with the admiration and show me where Henry is."

"As you wish, Master," he smiled, bowing. She made sure to punch him in the head on his way up. Chansey looked like she wanted to stop them, but a Trainer came up to her then, distracting her. Aries took the opportunity to lead Denise into the recovery room. There were several other Pokémon in there, like Volbeat and Kangaskhan and Glalie, but the only one she saw was Henry in the far right corner.

"Henry!" she yelled, maneuvering around the beds in the room to reach his. He was on his side in a peaceful sleep that would've been cute if he was a Riolu—he wasn't, though, so she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him wildly. "Get up get up get up!"

"Luca! Luca!" he gasped, eyes bouncing around his skull. She released him and he fell to the ground, disoriented.

"Welcome back."

"Lu," he sighed, getting to his feet. She held up the Cascade Badge for him; his eyes widened and he grinned. She high-fived him.

"That much closer to being Champion, Henry!"

"Lucario!"

Aries and Theo were in the waiting room when they returned. Aries smiled at Henry. "It's good to see you back in commission, Henry."

"Luca."

"I'm sorry to be putting you in danger so quickly after your recovery, but we've found the Team Rocket base, and there is most likely going to be resistance in getting to the warp pad."

"Lucario!" he said, pumped.

"I don't think he minds," Denise said.

"Well then, if that's settled—"

 _Yeah, if that's settled, I'll just be staying here,_ Theo interrupted, dropping into one of the chairs.

"No you're—" She gasped as she checked her pockets and came up empty. He waved his PokeBall in the air.

 _Looking for this? I took it when you were changing clothes earlier._

"You little—"

"Denise, we can't force him," Aries said, shrugging.

"Fine, I guess we can't. Stay here if you don't want to help save the world," she snapped at Theo.

 _I was never a hero._

"Ugh! Aries, show me where the damn base is." He tilted his head to the side, smiling. "I swear I'll beat the grin off of your face."

 _Abrasiveness is never attractive,_ Theo chimed in.

"Yeah, 'cause obviously you have herds of women."

"This is awfully petty, Denise," Aries said, shaking his head at her. She clenched her fists but held her tongue. "Let's go."

"Lucario," Henry agreed, flexing his shoulder.

"Yeah," Denise said, throwing an angry look at Theo, who was checking his claws. " _Let's_ go."


	12. 17 Morals Never Learned

"The warp panel is in the Bike Shop, according to Mew."

"Good," Denise sighed, pushing her hair back from her face as they trudged down the empty streets, him, her, Henry, and Theo in his PokeBall, which Denise reclaimed. Henry recommended that they travel at night to avoid any crowds and ensure that if any Team Rocket members attempted to follow or confront them, they would be obvious. As such, it was dark as they moved towards the Bike Shop, which was locked and bolted very well.

"Allow me," Aries said when Denise attempted to use a monkey wrench to smash the doorknob. "Although I am curious where you got that from."

"I found it," she said, tossing it aside. Henry gasped and calmly walked away to wallow in pain in the grass; apparently, it landed on his foot. Aries focused on the lock's innards and shifted them as if inserting a key. The lock clicked and the door swung open. "That was actually pretty cool," Denise commented. "I didn't know you could do that."

 _He can't,_ Mew interrupted before Aries could speak. Denise and Henry burst out laughing while Aries turned away.

"What's the situation inside?" Aries asked Mew, looking at the rows of hanging Bicycles. Mew reverted to its original form and hovered behind the counter.

 _There are no visible defenses; that must mean that Team Rocket is guarding the other end of the warp panel,_ it said. _The cash register uses a passcode to unlock that door—_ it pointed out a backroom with a mechanical lock with its tail, _—which has to contain the warp panel, as the other one only has bike parts and tools._

"Have you found the passcode then?" He joined it behind the counter. Mew shook its head. Aries sighed, then Denise pushed him away to look at the register's buttons. "Denise?"

Her hand hovered above it for a moment, uncertain, then she entered a six-digit passcode. The door's lock clicked and it opened a crack. Aries looked at her, eyebrows raised. "How did you know?"

"I only put 1-2-3-4-5-6," she said, blinking. He exhaled in understanding.

'Team Rocket must be full of geniuses,' Henry commented sardonically.

"I doubt that they would make it this easy by accident," Aries said. "If it truly is this easy, then what Mew said is right and we will be facing the members on the other side."

"We're ready for them!" Denise high-fived Henry. "Right?"

"Perhaps not _that_ ready, but we are as well." Aries glanced at Mew, who nodded. The four of them approached the door and pulled it open; inside were a few extra Bikes and cardboard boxes lining the walls.

"Where's the warp pad?" Denise asked. Just then, Mew groaned, clenching its head.

"Mew, are you alright?" Aries asked worriedly.

 _The warp field's energy is affecting me,_ it said, shaking its head. _Don't you three feel it as well?_

"Now that you mention it, my skin feels tingly," Denise said, rubbing her arms.

'I'm getting a headache,' Henry complained. 'Don't you have one too?'

"Now that you mention it… Although, I thought it arose from Denise's presence."

"Shut up!" she snapped. Aries chuckled, but his mind was working; if Henry had a headache instead of just some vague sense of the warp field, then he sensed more of the energy than a non-psychic or non-Psychic-type should've. Perhaps he did have some Psychic-type abilities. He ceased his laughter when he noticed Mew still reeling.

 _Mew, you're being affected more than you let on,_ he said. Mew shook him off.

 _I'm fine; let's just find the warp panel._

They searched around, moving boxes and bikes but finding nothing other than the occasional Spinarak, which put Denise on edge. Aries couldn't look into her mind to see but it seemed that she was scared of arachnids; he wanted to laugh, but then again she would break his neck for that, and he was quite fond of living. "We found nothing," she said, kicking a bike onto its side.

"Lu," Henry sighed.

"Maybe this was just some wild goose chase set up by Silver? That bastard's real cunning; he might've just done it to set us off."

"Then this was for naught," Aries sighed. Appearing highly frustrated, Denise chucked Theo's PokeBall at the wall. It ricocheted off of the concrete and hit Mew in the forehead instead, causing it to fall into a heap of discarded bike repair tools. Denise gasped.

"Oh my Arceus—Mew I'm really sorry!"

Mew appeared to have momentarily lost consciousness. "Why would you do that?" he whined to Denise.

"Why do you sound like a six-year-old?" she countered, taking up the PokeBall. There was a crackling sound, then the red beam shot out of the center and ricocheted around the room, giving each of them painful bruises on their forehead identical to Mew's before Theo finally slammed bodily into the far wall, loosing the knickknack shelf above him.

'I didn't know a PokeBall could do that,' Henry said.

"I didn't know that light could cause bruises," Aries muttered petulantly. A small glass vase on top of the shelf wiggled before toppling, except it didn't fall; instead, it hung at a precarious forty-five degree angle. The wall clicked and then a small square part of it no more than twenty-four inches around opened up at the bottom, revealing a green pad inside of the niche.

"People still do that crap?" Denise wondered, pointing at the vase.

"Just thank Arceus that they do," Aries replied, grasping Theo's clawed hand. "And I thank you as well, dear Theophilus, for without you this all would have borne no fruit."

 _I did what again?_ he asked, dazed. Aries laughed.

"Well?" Denise said. Aries looked back at her.

"Well what?"

"Well let's do it to it. Come on, Henry." She picked Mew up carefully with both hands and crouched down, crawling into the small space. The warp pad emitted a strong green light that enveloped her; she looked surprised, then the light completely consumed her, and when it was gone so was she.

'Denise,' Henry said worriedly, quickly following her and leaving just Aries and Theo. Aries pushed Theophilus forward; luckily, he was still too out of it to protest, but the both of them made for a very tight fight in the small space. Aries got a mouthful of Theo's fur as he tried to squeeze in beside him, and Theo's claws were shoved into a very sensitive area.

The green light surrounded them, intensifying his headache until he felt physically sick. He had the terrible feeling of being shoved through a too-small pipe and felt his bones shift and grind against in each other in response. There was another bottoming-out feeling like he was on a rollercoaster that suddenly dropped, and then it all disappeared as they landed bodily in a very dark and very cold room.

"Denise? Henry? Mew? Theo?" he spoke aloud, hearing his voice echo. His mind was still highly disoriented but he had the vague sense that the room was empty. He grasped Theo's arms, pulling him up. "Theo, can you please give some light?"

Theo's eyelids flickered, then he opened his eyes. Being a Dark-type, they worked almost like flashlights, illuminating a small space around them with a bluish hue. _Ugh… Where are we?_

"I'm going to assume that this is somewhere within Team Rocket's base."

 _Where's the loud annoying one and the quiet one?_ he asked, snorting.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." Theo looked around, illuminating a dirty linoleum floor and boxes full of old and broken machine parts. There was a door on the other side of the room, which Theo immediately pounced on. "Wait! We don't know what's outside."

 _Well I'm not going to stay_ inside! He pushed the door open and disappeared down the corridor; Aries followed him and found a hallway full of warp panels. It seemed that Denise, Henry, and Theo took one, but it was hard to tell which of the seven that they used; perhaps they even used different ones. His mind reeled from all of the possibilities; he heard that Team Rocket's HQ was labyrinthine, but that was just ridiculous!

Suddenly, the panel to his immediate left lit up. He barely had time to move before someone materialized on it. It was a Rocket Grunt angrily speaking on his Xtransceiver. Luckily, his attention was drawn away from Aries, so he took the opportunity to use the fifth panel to escape. Landing on his feet this time, he realized that he was in some sort of storage room lit by flickering fluorescent lights. Metal shelves filled with PokeBalls lined the walls, bringing back the memory of Team Rocket's infamous PokeBall theft. The thought of all of those Trainers with missing partners made him sick—well, not as sick as the warp panel, but still.

It was really stupid now that he thought about it. He had spent so many years training with Mew, and yet he was still as defenseless as ever without Denise or Pokémon to back him up. "Damn it," he swore, kicking a shelf in anger. First of all, he knew that it was wrong to be angry considering he was supposed to be learning to detach himself from his emotions, but he really couldn't be bothered with that—that is, until the shelf's leg cracked and the entire thing came crashing down, spilling PokeBalls everywhere. To make matters worse, most of then landed on the button, causing the mass release of over thirty Pokémon in the small room. The noise level instantly rose, and conversely the level of space instantly dropped as Aries was crammed into a corner by an Aggron, Tyranitar, and Aerodactyl. He tried to force them away telekinetically but the recoil of attempting to push such heavy Pokémon left his skeletal system achy.

"What's going on in there?" someone outside shouted. He heard the door open, then the Pokémon rushed out in a flurry, squawking and screaming and making a general ruckus. When he was finally out of the fray, he noticed the Grunt was lying on the floor covered in footprints. He wasn't sure if the guy was alive, and really, he didn't care; he just needed to find Denise and the others and get out of there. He started to rush away, headed down the long hallway, but something stopped him. He didn't think Arceus was there—or at least not fully formed—but sort of divine power made him stop instead of running down to the fork in the hallway, which was smart of him as a Pokémon came flying at the spot where he would have been, claws flailing.

"Weavile," the Weavile hissed, turning to him in disappointment and anger. His Trainer followed, a dapper young man in an expensive black suit and with combed red hair that spiked at the bottom. When he turned enough for Aries to see his face, he frowned, then laughed.

"Oh, Arceus!" he chuckled. "I thought I was seeing things, but it really is you… Where's Mew, huh? Oh, wait, I know; she was with that mouthy brat and her Lucario when they tried to take over HQ or whatever. Well, they're dealt with, so that just leaves you, huh, _Aristotle_?"

Aries didn't respond; he couldn't, not with his train of thought running on broken tracks. Silver. Arceus, it was _Silver_. He found that he was not any less terrified of him than he was as a small child, and for good reason too: he was stronger, Aries could sense it, and coupled with his original strength, he had to be a complete monster. "Silver," he finally whispered, feeling his blood run cold.

"Oh, you can speak after all?" he smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. Aside from the improved fashion sense, he hadn't changed much, perhaps by about three inches, but since Aries was always a short person it didn't make a difference. His Weavile grinned madly at Aries.

'I missed you,' he cackled, opening and closing his claws.

"Well?" Silver asked expectantly. Aries blinked, taken aback.

"Well…what?"

"Well, have I spared you for naught, or have you actually gotten stronger within these last eleven years?"

"I…I don't know; you tell me."

"I'd be glad to find out," he said, causing Aries' stomach to bottom out from fear. "Although not today; Weavile is the only one I have."

"What are you doing with all of those Pokémon, Silver?" he demanded, regaining his wits. Silver wagged his index finger reproachfully.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, little Aristotle; don't meddle in others' business." He tucked a loose lock of hair behind his ear, frowning. There was something different about him; he didn't seem quite as laidback as eleven years ago, as if there was something else on his mind. Aries wanted to peek—tried to, in fact—but Silver's mind was a Dark-type's stronghold. He focused on Silver's body; perhaps he could redo his show of telekinesis. He sure was more advanced with it; it was possible, but still, something held him back. Suddenly Silver's eyes widened, then he grinned. "You look like you're going to throw up. Are you… Are you scared, Aristotle?"

He wanted to protest, but frankly he did feel like he was going to throw up, and his legs were shaking, and he was dizzy enough that he was starting to see double. It was worse than when he was a kid, because now, Silver was the real deal, Team Rocket Boss Giovanni's son, and Aries was still Aristotle, that stupid kid that couldn't do anything to fight him back. "You're not getting away this time, Silver," he said, trying to be brave.

"Yeah?" he chuckled. "How do you propose you're going to stop me?"

Aries' eyes widened, not from the realization but from the sudden burst of emotions from down the hall. He couldn't react; Weavile couldn't react; nobody could react when Denise suddenly tackled Silver from behind, getting him in a half nelson while Henry incapacitated his Weavile with a well-positioned Brick Break. "Find Mew! She's at the warp panel!" Denise said to him. He stared, his brain still trying to process it all. "Aries, you hear me don't you? Go!"

"A…Alright." He regretfully ran down the hall, sending his mind out to find Mew's. He found several Grunts' scattered brains trying to contain all of the Pokémon he accidently released, along with a handful that had been attacked or rendered unconscious by Denise, Henry, or Theophilus, before he finally found Mew down the hall. It was in a room with four warp panels each on the left and right walls, whizzing in circles nervously. "Mew!"

 _Aries!_ It tackled his abdomen, stubby arms grasping his shirt. He hugged it back, feeling tears well in the corners of his eyes. It detached from him after a moment and hovered next to one of the panels. _This one, this one!_ it said.

"No! We have to wait for Denise and—" Something large rammed into his back, sending him flying forward until he skidded on the ground and crashed into the wall. Disoriented, it took him a few moments to place the Arbok before him, followed by his Trainer.

"Would you look at this?" Team Rocket Executive Ariana mused, twirling a lock of long red hair on her finger. Her platinum-colored heels clicked out a staccato beat against the linoleum as she moved forward, her Arbok hissing warningly at Aries. "The intruders are right here—and one of them is Mew! Gio—I mean, _Silver_ will be very pleased to see you," she said to Mew.

 _You're not taking me to Silver,_ Mew said, clenching its little fists. Ariana narrowed her eyes.

"Arbok, Bite."

Her Arbok leapt at Mew with speed worthy of praise; Mew grabbed him psychically and twisted him into a tight knot, throwing him back at Ariana. She gasped in surprise as she was tackled by her own Pokémon, then doubly in surprise when Henry came running in, walking all over her face.

 _Where is Denise?_ Mew asked worriedly.

'She's looking for Theophilus, Arceus knows why,' he muttered. 'The PokeBall will work within a certain range; she's trying to get within a certain distance of him so she can return him. In the meantime—oh! Aries, are you alright?'

"'ve been better," he muttered, sitting up with his back against the wall. "It's amazing… I haven't been this sore outside of psychic training in a long time. It's very nostalgic, really."

'Um…really, are you alright?' Henry asked again, somewhat worried for his mental state.

"Yes, yes, fine." he grunted, getting to his feet. Something was broken; he just wasn't too sure what, although the disturbing feeling of blood saturating his shirt was a hint. Thankfully, his cloak hit it from peripheral view.

"I hope you all didn't forget about me," Ariana said from the doorway, getting to her feet. Her Arbok got out of his knot too. "Arbok, use Sludge Bomb!" He hacked up a ball of purple slime and spat it at Mew; Henry intercepted, grabbing it before crushing it between his paws. He smirked as he crashed his fists together.

'I've been waiting for a good fight since that Gym battle.'

 _Aries, go find Denise and bring her here,_ Mew ordered. _I'll help Henry._

Aries nodded and started searching mentally. The place was still highly hectic; he wasn't sure he could find her mind among hundreds of others'. Then Aries found Denise's "voice" saying the one word he never thought she would.

 _Help._

All of the blood drained from his face as he tried to push through her mental defenses to see what was going on. She was in a room with Theo, who was unconscious and bleeding, and some sort of indistinguishable Pokémon. He could only make out the strange sounds it made, like it had no idea how to use its mouth. He gasped when, so deep in Denise's mind, he felt the sting of a lash on his arm. Then her scream filled his mind; he clapped his hands on his ears and dropped into a crouch, jumping out of her mind and back into his own. He heard Mew gasp as it looked into his thoughts, but he didn't give it a moment as he ran past Ariana and into the hall, down to the warp panel he saw Denise take.

The teleportation left him disoriented for a moment, and when he regained his wits he saw he was in a room with three more panels. He took the one to the far left and ended up in a room full of computer cubicles and small Eevee and the evolutions of the Eevee. Most looked at him and deemed him innocuous before continuing to wreck the room, burning the computers and freezing the desks so on and so on. He passed through them to the other warp panel easily.

When he landed, the first thing he noticed was the energy moving in the room—or lack of thereof, actually. Living things always emitted energy, so his first assumption was that the room was empty—until he saw Denise. She was on the floor next to Theophilus; neither was moving. His first impulse was to check on them—that is, until he saw what put them in that condition.

*OUY ERA THE EON NKNWO SA ITTSRALOE* Deoxys said. It was Deoxys; it had to be. Nothing else on Earth could feel so inhuman and terrifying—well, except maybe Mewtwo. Aries stepped back, swallowing. Its speech was peculiar; it didn't speak verbally or mentally, and yet he understood every word as if they were engraved on his brain. It shifted its body towards him, lifeless eyes raking over him. *OYU REA ETH ENO EYTH TNWA-* it continued thoughtfully.

Aries tried to dig into Deoxys' mind but the end result was a debilitating migraine. He rubbed his temples while trying to figure it out the old-fashioned way. "What do you want?" he asked slowly. Deoxys cocked its head one way then the other and was silent long enough for Aries to assume it didn't speak English.

*I-WANT-OUT* it finally said, stilling. Aries watched as it seemed to melt down, its body slowly changing. Two of its tentacles disappeared and its body changed from mainly orange to mainly grey; in a second it was behind Aries, even though there was at least thirty feet between them, and within another second it was gone via the warp panel. Stunned, he checked on Denise.

"Denise?" he whispered, placing his hands on both sides of her head and pressing his forehead to hers; the direct contact with the focal point of her body allowed him deeper into her subconscious than he could do with his admittedly-poor psychic abilities. He couldn't feel her heart beating, which terrified him; he closed his eyes and focused on it, using his telekinesis to make it beat. He almost used CPR, but he had a feeling she wouldn't like that very much. At first, nothing happened, then he started gasping for breath herself, thank Arceus. She looked around before her eyes focused on Aries', which was when she surprisingly turned a deep shade of red, pushing him onto his behind with her hands.

"Never do that again," she mumbled, sitting up and pushing her hair from her face.

"Save your life?" he asked tiredly, relief still strong in his veins. She made a displeased noise; Aries noticed she was still red. "Don't tell me that you like me, Denise."

"I don't," she snapped, turning to Theophilus. "Just don't get so in my face again; it makes me uncomfortable." Lucky for her, Aries didn't have the mental strength to see if she was lying. Theo was quickly roused, although he wasn't particularly coherent.

"Zoro—" What came out of his mouth next was not proper for any sort of ears. Aries shook his head when he was done.

"We have to go, Denise." He took Theo's PokeBall from her pocket and returned him; he then grabbed Denise's hand and led her to the warp panel, which sent them back to the computer room. Thankfully, Deoxys wasn't there, but there were several Grunts working to capture the Eevee.

"There they are! The intruders!" a female Grunt called, pointing them out. Several Pikachu, Vulpix, Parasect, and Omastar turned on them; Aries threw up Protect just as several attacks went flying at them. He pushed Denise forward and gestured for Theo to help; he groaned but created his own Protect barrier as well. With two of them, they protected themselves against the numerous Pokémon and headed for the other warp panel. Right before they stepped on it, someone else materialized.

"You," Silver hissed at Denise, arms crossed over his chest. Even without his Pokémon he was still bigger than her and much more intimidating.

"You," she repeated just as disdainfully, and then she did the one thing that made him love her forever: she moved back and gave Silver a good, quick, hard kick in his tiny unborn Silvers. As strong as he was, Silver crumpled to his knees almost immediately, clutching his jewels for dear life. He tried to say something to her but it sounded too squeaky to decipher. "Let's go!" she said to Aries, who was still shell-shocked.

 _Arceusdamn, you're one manly woman,_ Theo said, crowding onto the warp panel with the both of them. _I may be a little scared of you now._

"Good," Denise said before the warp panel activated. Aries had a different feeling than before; something was off.

"You guys—"

Something struck him hard in the side of his skull, causing him to stumble just as the warp commenced. A Grunt stood off to the side appearing triumphant; Aries watched the metal hard drive that he threw ricochet off of the ground and skid across the tiled ground. He lost his balance, tipping out of the square of green light; Denise grabbed him by his cloak, pulling him back in just as they went through the loop. Aside from the pain of warping, a terrifying numbness filled his body as they landed in a rectangular room full of crates. It wasn't the same one from before; the warp panels must have switched or something. "Oh my Arceus," he gasped, feeling the numbness turn into a severe burning pain. He lost his balance and hit the ground.

 _Human?_ Theo said, and he even sounded a little worried. _I mean…what was your name again?_

"Damn it, Aristotle," Denise swore, looking through the door. He tried to look too but somehow he couldn't roll over to see. "Johto. We're in Johto," she muttered, both amazed and displeased. "Theophilus, can you lift him?"

Theo grunted as he lifted Aries onto his back, which was when he became aware of how wet the left part of his cloak and shirt had become. Denise looked back at him, which was when he noticed tears in the corners of her eyes. "Damn, that's a lot of blood," she muttered, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Look, I know I wasn't all that nice to you, but…but you're my friend, so don't die, please? Come on, Theophilus!" She disappeared through the door and Theo rushed to follow with Aries' weight.

"What are you…" Aries mumbled, deeply confused. "I can't feel my hand…my left…my left hand, why can't I feel it, Denise…?"


	13. 211 Colored Crimson (His Exile Part I)

"Pathetic… Truly pathetic, Silver," Giovanni reprimanded, his once-strong hazel eyes sorrowful. Silver hang his head.

"It was a mistake, alright? I didn't expect—"

"And that was your mistake." Even as Giovanni lay on his sickbed, he was still as not-proud as ever of his son, his son who killed the Legendaries; his son who helped build the same machine that made Mewtwo; his son who _trained_ Mewtwo; his son who did everything in his power to keep the family business and his last-remaining _family_ alive even when it'd be so easy to let all of it crumple and pave his own path as Pokémon Master Silver.

"You're not serious, Pops; all the crap I did for you, and this one damn—"

"This one mistake has cost our HQ its integrity, many fine Pokémon, and many semi-useful Grunts," Giovanni interrupted.

"Yeah, I know, I trained most of those fools, but you're not—"

"I really can't believe all of my fatherly advice has culminated _this_."

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!" he shouted, finally losing his cool. Giovanni didn't flinch at all, but he did finally shut his trap. "I know I made a mistake, but Pops, I'm twenty-eight-Arceusdamn-years-old; I don't need you calling me out like a little brat, alright? Secondly, what fatherly advice? The last thing I remember you telling me is to not shake the bars on my crib. Thirdly, you're underestimating the brats that broke into HQ in the first place. That kid that was with the Legendaries eleven years ago? He was there, and his virile friend kicked me hard enough to send me to the gynecologist."

"Just as he had done eleven years ago?" Giovanni reminded him. He ground his teeth together.

"I wasn't expecting it then, and I wasn't expecting it now, but I swear on Mom's grave that that kid's gonna be lying on one of our lab tables within the next two days."

"He better be, because— _cough, cough_ —if not, you'll be there instead," he said, his coughs wracking his weak body. Silver snorted, turning away.

"What a great way of greeting your only son, Pop," he muttered as he walked away from Rocket Boss Giovanni.

* * *

"I wish you wouldn't rile Giovanni up so much."

"Morning to you too, Ari," Silver smirked, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I love that boot-shaped bruise on your face; is that the new style?" She scoffed, affronted, as she groomed her gross Arbok. "Hey, where are you co-workers…Diesel and Atom?"

"Petrel and Proton?"

"Yeah, yeah. I hate one of them, you know, the flamboyant one; he keeps telling these damn Trainers our passwords. He's the reason we're always changing 'em, and why I can't ever remember 'em!"

"Petrel is a work in progress," Ariana said defensively. "Not all of us can be as perfect as Giovanni's son, you know."

"I'm not perfect, Ari; I just seem that way." He sat down in HQ's rec room, which consisted of a coffee machine, flat-screen T.V., cute little café tables, and plenty of other pointless things Team Rocket had too much money on hand to purchase, and took a gulp of his coffee, relishing the burning feeling it left in his throat.

"Well, I haven't seen much of you these last three days," she said, sitting in the seat opposite to him and fluffing her hair. He remembered how she tried to ask him out on a date a few years back; he refused and told her that she had about as much character depth as a two-bit arcade game, and for the rest of the m she barely even looked at him. (He also started finding globs of poison in his coffee, but that was another, more painful story.)

"I was…occupied. Not all of us like being here, y'know."

"But you live here, don't you?"

"Technically." And _technically_ , he owned about five other houses in Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos. There were _some_ perks about having the underworld's boss as your dad, including the fact that cash never seemed to run dry. "Hey, don't you technically have some detective work to be doing? You and Asher and Gasoline and Molecule?"

"Archer, Petrel, and Proton," she corrected, offended. "At least learn your own associate's names, _boss_."

He finished his coffee with a grimace, standing up. "Don't call me boss, alright? I'm not the boss until Pops finally kicks that old bucket—which he _won't_ be doing, by the way."

"He's old and he's terminal, Silver; face facts already," she called as he started to leave, pushing the double doors open.

"Facing facts isn't really my forte," he called back. "But alliteration is, if you're curious."

He passed through the repaired halls (which were only repaired so quickly because of Team Rocket's aforementioned overflowing pockets) and headed down to the research wing to his old pal, Computer Nerd #12. The man was forty-something with a greasy ring of brown hair around his balding head and large bifocals. He seemed to be one of the debtors that Giovanni roped in; Silver wasn't sure since he never asked. He went to Twelve's cubicle and dropped his elbows down on the corner of his fast food-infested desk, causing him to jump in his chair and nearly take out twelve thousand dollars' worth of computer equipment.

"Hey, buddy," Silver grinned. Twelve returned his geniality with a curt and slightly-fearful nod. "Did ya do me that favor I asked?"

"O-Of course, Silver sir," he stammered, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he loaded his files. Silver, being Giovanni's son, wasn't the novice with hacking, but if something happened he'd rather that some nameless slave to Team Rocket take the blame than himself. "A boy named Aristotle checked into the local hospital in Goldenrod City three days ago, just ten minutes after the intruders escaped from here." He quickly printed the information and handed it to Silver.

"Good, good." He patted the man's shoulder. "Just for this, I'll knock a thousand off of your debt."

His eyes lit up. "Really? You'd do that, sir?"

"Sure I would. Now get back to work." Silver turned away from his quiet rejoicing, pulling his Xtransceiver from his pocket and dialing a number.

"Archer speaking," a uniform voice said on the other end. Silver had to sigh at that.

"Archie, cover for me, will ya? I'll be taking a little trip."

"Silver? That you? No I'm not going to cover for you again."

"Please?"

"No way!"

Silver stopped at a corner and looked around before whispering, "I'll tell everyone what really happened to that chocolate mousse at the Christmas party."

Archer was silent for a few seconds. "…You mean it?"

"What do _you_ think?"

"Fine, fine! I'll cover you!"

"Thanks a bunch, Arch."

"Can I know where you're going at least?"

Silver went to his bedroom where Ariana, as per his orders, had retrieved clothes just like the ones he wore back in the day and laid them out on his bed. He grinned. "I'm going to visit an old…friend."

* * *

Goldenrod was about as crowded as he remembered it. The last time he went there was about two decades or so ago, back when Giovanni still cared a little more about his family than the family business. They went to the amusement park, ate Castelia Cones, and had playful little Pokémon battles with Silver's little Cyndaquil. He shook off the memory and shoved some indistinct bills at the cab driver.

"Keep the change," he said, climbing out. The driver thanked him, surprised, before driving away. Maybe he gave him a little too much of a tip, but it didn't matter anyway; the money he didn't get from Giovanni's exploits he could regain from battling some poor idiot Trainers. They usually paid awfully well, especially if he flashed an Amulet Coin for whatever reason.

Something about the grand city in the nighttime was soothing, even for a monster like him. He took some pleasure in the bright lights and the joyous citizens and the overexcited Pokémon hanging around; it was that kind of carefree stuff that he missed in his childhood and led to him being, well, Silver today. (Not to blame Giovanni; after eleven years of soul-searching, he realized that he probably would've ended up crappy even without his old man's help.)

"Umbreon!" A full-grown Umbreon started pawing at his jeans. He bent down to pet it, which was when its Trainer, a ten-year-old boy with crimson hair like his and wary eyes, snatched it up into his arms.

"Denny, you shouldn't walk up to strangers like that," he chided his Umbreon. Silver scratched his head.

"'s alright; I'm a Trainer too, ya know," he said, gesturing to his PokeBall belt. The boy watched him carefully. "The name's Si…Simon. What about you?"

He hesitated for a second, then he muttered, "Jenson."

"Alright… You're a Trainer then, Jenson? Battling Gyms and such?" Jenson nodded. "This one is Whitney, right? You challenged her already?" He shook his head. "Well, good luck, then."

"Wait," Jenson said when he started to turn away. The heavy crowds of Goldenrod started to push them apart; Silver just shrugged helplessly and kept moving.

Luckily, the cab driver dropped him off close to the hospital. When he walked in he was bombarded with the lack of noise in there; people were in the waiting room juggling their PokeBalls nervously or the non-Trainers were talking to each other, anxious. He approached the receptionist's desk and put on his best "I'm a trustworthy young gentleman" face.

"Excuse me, ma'am," he said to the young blonde receptionist, "my best friend had a terrible accident three days ago, and I just heard about it; I was wondering if I could go see him?"

"Of course," she giggled, obviously infatuated. She checked her computer. "What's his name?"

"Aristotle."

She checked the database. "Aristotle, Room 425. Here." She handed him a pin-on nametag that read 'VISITOR.' He flashed another smile at her before walking away, getting onto the elevator at the end of the hall. He got in with a taller man with mint-green hair and Trainer's clothes that hit the button for second floor, and Silver hit the button for fourth. Quiet elevator music played as it ascended.

"What are you in for?" the man asked. Silver shrugged.

"Accident." I only wish I'd seen it happen, he added silently. "You?"

"Same thing." He got off when they reached second floor, leaving Silver on his solitary journey to fourth. The elevator dinged and he stepped off, scanning the plates next to each room's door.

"415," he read aloud, walking down the hall. "Sixteen…seventeen…ack, this is gonna take for—okay, twenty…twenty-one…twenty-three…twenty-four…" He stopped in front of room number 425, which was when that girl that racked him came out of the door in a hurry. She stopped once their eyes met, clenching her fists.

"I already burst your grapes; what more do you want, huh?" she snapped angrily.

"You're in good shape," he said sardonically, noting how tired and bedraggled she looked. "What, your boyfriend's in worse condition than I thought?"

"He's not my—ack, what do you know." She pushed him backwards which, considering how angry she looked, was letting him off easy. "Get out of here _now_. It's 'cause of you that Aries is in that room now, and if you don't start movin' right now you'll get your own room here, got it?"

He reached behind his back surreptitiously. "Oh, yeah, I got it."

She raised her eyebrows doubtfully just as he found the right PokeBall and pressed the button. The red beam materialized just behind him, but before she could react Silver's Alakazam knocked her out; Silver caught her just before she hit the ground, sitting her down and resting her against the wall. "Stand guard," he commanded his Alakazam before he entered the room.

Something about Aristotle seemed so small, like he was still a kid. He was asleep (or maybe sedated; Silver wasn't sure) with the covers pulled up to his chest. His clothes were folded on the nightstand so Silver could see the bandages around his left shoulder, and when he leaned forward he could see his left hand—or rather, his lack of left hand; he remembered finding Aristotle's misplaced limb at the edge of the warp panel. If Aristotle had been a Team Rocket member, who were all well-versed in teleportation via warp panel, he would've known that when one's molecules were moved, anything outside of the energy field was left behind, which included extremities like hands or feet and a chocolate bar that one time Silver used it.

"Poor you," Silver sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's because of you that Pops is cracking down on me—well, more than usual. You're just a weak kid; by yourself you're nothing. I don't understand how you bested me back then, or how you bested me three days ago, but it doesn't matter; no, it doesn't matter, because I'll best _you_ , Aristotle, and your funny little friends."

He inadvertently stepped forward and felt something under his shoe. He looked down and saw Mew curled up next to the bed, fast asleep. He clenched his fist and his jaw but didn't make any moves against her—for the moment, at least. Aristotle, on the other hand, was another case.

Aristotle had messed up his chance with the Legendaries eleven years ago and messed up his already-shaky relationship with his old man. He wanted to punch him, at the very least, but…he couldn't. Not like that. He went as far as clenching his fist and throwing it but he stopped before his knuckles even touched Aristotle's nose. "Gah," he groaned, digging his fingers into his scalp. "What's going on with me…? I never used to be this damn soft." His Xtransceiver rang, bringing him out of his self-loathing. He checked the Caller I.D. and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah Pops, what's up?"

"This is Archer speaking."

"Archie! What's going on?"

"We need you right now. Your little _pet_ is out of control."

"You mean…? Alright, I got it." He shoved his Xtransceiver into the recesses of his pocket and snorted at Aristotle. "One of these days…"

On his way out, he bumped into a second Trainer, knocking his hat to the ground. "My mistake," the man said, bending to pick it up.

"Yeah, it was," Silver snapped. He watched the man straighten up and his eyes widened. "Dear Arceus, not you."

"Not me what, _Silver_?" he taunted, fixing his hat on his head. "It's a hospital, you know; anybody can visit anybody, unless, say, that anybody is the son of the underworld's crime lord and one of the main reasons why the patient is a patient in the first place."

Silver shifted his entire body to him, shoving his hands in his pockets and letting out a breath. "You always were a real bastard with information; I just hope for your sake that it's not getting out there."

"Don't worry, your dirty secrets are as safe with me as they've been thirteen years ago."

"They better be." With that, he stomped away, leaving Aristotle's second visitor to his own devices.

* * *

Team Rocket's HQ was in a bigger mess than three days ago, except this time it was just the Grunts and executives scrambling, not loose Pokémon. (Which, as a side note, they only regained a third of; the rest were either scattered via the warp panels or, er, put down.) A few Grunts shakily directed him to the Battle Room, which was the large empty basement floor used for Pokémon training and such. He descended the stairs to find his old friend telekinetically choking Ariana.

"S-Silver," she stammered, her face turning blue. "P-Please…make it…s-stop…"

"I don't know," Silver said flippantly. "That's the prettiest I've ever seen you."

 _Still as rotten as ever, huh, Silver?_ Mewtwo jeered, releasing Ariana. She fell on her knees coughing and sputtering.

"Still as callous as ever, huh, Mewtwo? What are you doing here anyway? I thought you disowned us or whatever?"

 _Oh, don't have any misconceptions; I made my disownment very clear,_ it said. _I just wanted to talk to you, and with you on one of your daily excursions, I felt that causing a ruckus was the only way to get your attention. You were never one for sitting down with a nice cup of tea, you know._

"Well, I've nothing better to do now; I'll indulge you, Mewtwo." Mewtwo smirked and snapped its fingers; Ariana instantly vanished. "Convenient; you should teach me that trick—you know, for future reference."

 _Ha-hah._ A circular table from the rec room appeared in the middle of the floor with two fancy hand-carved chairs and a porcelain tea set. Silver raised his eyebrows. _You said you would indulge me, did you not?_

"It seems like you've picked up a sense of humor in the last five years." He pulled up a chair and Mewtwo pulled up the other. "What is this, Earl grey? I hate that crap and you know it."

 _No, black tea,_ it said calmly, using Psychic to pour both of them a cup. _Black like our hearts._

"You really do know me; I love my meals with a side of allegory." He added a generous amount of sugar before taking a sip. It wasn't poisoned, he could say that much. "What, no side dish?"

 _I wouldn't want you_ choking, it said, smirk widening. Silver took another drink before setting his cup down.

"What happened, Mewtwo? I thought you've become quite fond of speaking aloud."

 _That is…part of what I wish to bring up._ Mewtwo lifted its head, which was when Silver noticed a long and dark scar on its neck. Now he was fully interested. _As I said, we need to talk._

Silver grinned, then he became completely serious. "Alright then, talk."


	14. 212 The Living Dead Man (His Exile II)

_First of all, I have to thank you so very much for eliminating the Legendaries in the first place,_ Master.

"You're very welcome, now get on with it," Silver said, waving him on. Mewtwo sighed, taking a long and thoughtful drink of tea.

 _You do know Team Galactic Leader Cyrus, or at least know of him?_

"Sure; him and Pops used to always fight over stealing Pokémon—I know the bastard."

 _And you know what he tried to do fifteen years back?_

"Yeah, the moron tried to create a new world using Dialga and Palkia and was beaten by some bratty Trainer from Twinleaf Town. He was lucky to have escaped with his life."

 _What if he didn't?_

"What do you mean, _What if he didn't?_ He's not a zombie…is he?" Mewtwo didn't respond; Silver groaned. "Just when I thought I knew everything."

 _He's not a zombie in the media's sense, like those stupid movies you always watched,_ Mewtwo said, causing him to groan again. _But he is a living corpse. The new dimension was dark, like a black hole; it sucked in his life energy like everything else, and for a few moments Cyrus was dead to the world._

"And then…?"

 _Cyrus was inside there for two years before the portal reopened somewhere in Sinnoh. I don't know what happened, but as a Psychic-type I can tell something is very wrong with him._

"Okay, but how do you know any of this?"

Mewtwo smiled devilishly. _Perhaps I have set up residence in a Galactic Grunt's mind?_

"You sly Delphox, Mewtwo." He paused. "Oi, since when could you do that?"

 _I don't know—within the last three years? If only you had been there to see me mature,_ Master.

"Stop calling me that already, you baby. What's done is done; you've made yourself a good living in any case, so don't be so damn petty. Anyhow, why exactly is Cyrus a problem for me?"

 _He's not so much a problem for_ you _as for Team Rocket as a whole._

"Oh, great, then I don't care."

 _Silver, I know you're not the biggest Rocket advocate, but this also puts your father in danger—my creator. Don't tell me you've lost that little bit of heart you had,_ Mewtwo snorted.

"Alright, alright, maybe I didn't. What exactly is Cyrus planning to do?"

 _He thinks that by using the advanced DNA research and technology we have, coupled with the abilities of a human psychic as both a medium and catalyst, he can recreate and summon Dialga and Palkia to make a more permanent and less pernicious new world directly on top of this one, one that he can rule._

"Quite the ambitious zombie, isn't he?" Silver said, finishing his tea and pouring himself another cup. "You don't happen to have any side dishes, do you?" Mewtwo appeared bored as he summoned a plate of peanut butter cookies. "Wow."

 _You still enjoy these, don't you?_

"Of course!" He took a bite and grimaced. "These are stale."

 _So is your sense of humor,_ it replied curtly. _We're on an important topic._

"So? Food is also very important. Continue, continue."

 _Team Galactic has also amassed a good amount of power within these last five years,_ Mewtwo continued. _They allied with small-time Trainers that made it big in their regions, people like Lucas, May, Calem, and Hilda, making them a more formidable force than before. I'm sad to say that I'm not even a match for them at this point; my attempt at opposition fell flat, even with my—_ cough _—unmatched prowess._

"Modest much? And yeah, that's a pretty bad injury you got."

 _I'm working on healing it, don't worry._

"Who said I was worried?" he said calmly. Mewtwo scoffed and rolled its eyes. "Okay, maybe a little, but… Okay, I see the problem with Cyrus, but if _you_ can't handle him what do you expect _me_ to do?"

 _I don't know,_ it admitted, _but though I hate to say it, you are more resourceful than I; you can think of a solution can't you, Silver?_

"I'd be flattered had that not been so bitter," Silver smirked, finishing his third cup of tea and checking the pot. "You didn't magic a full pot huh?"

 _I didn't expect a long conversation—or such gluttony,_ Mewtwo said dryly.

"That's not the way to butter someone up for a favor, Mewtwo."

 _I've said already that it shouldn't have to be considered a favor for you to help out your_ father _, your own flesh and blood, you cruel bastard._

"Gee, thanks for the heads up!" Silver threw his hands in the air. "We're both bastards; it's no secret, and therefore it doesn't affect me in the slightest to hear as much, especially from you. Anything else, or was that it?"

 _I don't know; any questions?_

"Um, yeah, tons."

 _Narrow them down?_

"Well, you mentioned Cyrus having our DNA technology? How'd he get that?"

 _Cyrus has dozens of spies, Silver, and some of them are even under your nose. I assume you remember a middle-aged, balding man by the name of Jermaine?_

"No, not really."

 _Alright, let me see if I can remind you—this is quoted verbatim from a thought I procured from him: "Just for this, I'll knock a thousand off of your debt."_

"Him? He was a spy? He still here?"

 _No; he's speaking with Cyrus at the moment._ Silver took out his Xtransceiver and sent a quick mass message to the Grunt guards.

"Well he's not coming back in. One more thing, Mewtwo—how do I beat him alone?"

 _I never once said you'll be alone in this._ Silver worked his jaw irritably. _Team Rocket—_

"Is my _father's_ team; not mine," he interrupted, creating a period of angry silence.

 _I apologize for the suggestion then,_ it interrupted calmly, standing as well. _Look, I have somewhere to be._

"Gee, got a hot date waiting?"

 _Really, I wish you could level up your jokes like you level up your Pokémon,_ it said dryly. Silver grinned.

"It's been…nice seeing you again, Mewtwo, even under the circumstances. Pops may have made you but it was me that taught you everything you know; I hope it means as much to you as it does to me."

Mewtwo didn't respond to that. _You're really getting soft, Silver,_ it muttered before waving away the table then disappearing itself. That was always creepy; it just vanished without any smoke or noise or anything. Silver sighed and shook his head.

"Sir?" a timid voice said from the entrance. Silver turned and scoffed at the short Grunt standing there.

"What? I'm not in a mood to rob someone's stupid Pokémon or mess with weak Trainers, guy."

"T-That's not it, sir," he said, looking at his feet as he spoke.

"Then it's…?"

"Your father…the Boss…he wants to see you, sir."

"Great," Silver said, looking back at where Mewtwo was moments ago. "I want to see him too."

* * *

Giovanni looked a lot better; he was in his office instead of a bed wallowing in his feces or something. He was in his usual suit behind his desk shuffling papers; Silver would've believed that him being sick was just some sort of nightmare if Giovanni hadn't had a group of prescription bottles next to his paperwork. "Silver, we need to talk," he said, getting straight to the nitty-gritty.

"Sure Pops, let's have a little chat." Silver drew up one of the slick leather office chairs and sat opposite to his father. Giovanni shuffled papers in silence for a while more, apparently stalling—or maybe he just forgot Silver was there like usual.

"Jermaine tells me that you visited a hospital in Goldenrod City?"

"Jermaine? Who's that?"

"One of the Grunts working on the computers?" Giovanni sighed, shaking his head. "One part of being a boss is memorizing your workers' names; you should learn them as well, Silver."

"And why the hell should I? I digress; what's the big deal huh? I'm twenty-eight, I can do what I want when I want."

"Fair point well made. It also came to my attention that you visited one of the intruders in that hospital; more than that, you left him there without reporting his location to me or any of the Executives."

"Okay…and?" Giovanni held his gaze until Silver groaned. "Alright, alright, I made a mistake, but—"

"You seem to be making a lot of mistakes as of late, Silver," he said. Silver inhaled; he recognized that tone, the same tone Giovanni used to tell him that his mom died and he (Giovanni) would miss the funeral for something-or-other, that he had "business" and couldn't come to his third-grade Spelling Bee, that he had to interview some potential business associates and missed his inauguration as the Johto League Champion—it was pretty much his I'm-sorry-I-can't-be-a-real-father-but-business-calls tone.

"What exactly are you getting at?" he asked hesitantly, sitting forward. Giovanni sighed and put on his best business face, which was an altogether different red flag.

"You're off of the team, Silver. Off of Team Rocket."

"Oh. Oh, that's not all that bad," Silver said, surprised. Well, he would have to earn his own cash, get his own apartment, but it wasn't a big deal; it wasn't nearly as bad as what he thought Giovanni was about to do, at least.

"That's not all."

"It's not?" Silver could count on one hand all the times he was afraid in his entire life, and this encounter with his father made it as the third time. "Then…what else, Dad?" He gripped his knees anxiously as Giovanni stood up, turning to the glass wall of his office with his hands clasped behind his back. The very classic I'm-about-to-end-your-world businessman pose.

"You're not just out of Team Rocket; you're out of the family as well."

"I'm… _what_?" _You're out of the family._ It couldn't be—no, Silver must have been hearing things, there was no way that Giovanni, his father, his biological father, the one who raised him all by himself since he was four would even _consider_ —

"You've been making too many mistakes, causing too many rumors to circulate. Having you here is becoming a liability, and having a relation with you has others thinking that I'm a traitor. The traitor is _you_ , Silver, and that's the one thing that I despise."

Silver stood up so fast the chair overturned. "No… Dad, you can't be serious. I'm your son—your son, Arceusdamnit, you can't just—just— _disown_ me! Dad!"

"You should go," was all Giovanni had to say. Silver clenched and unclenched his fists; he wanted to punch Giovanni—or maybe himself, he wasn't sure—but he was so angry and frustrated and just so… _miserable_ inside. Uh-huh, yeah, the same Silver that ignored his dad for most of his life was miserable that his dad disowned him, because no matter how much of a Stunky his old man was, he loved him, and to walk away would mean giving up the last person that still probably loved him in that world. He gritted his teeth and shook his head, repressing the urge to cry as he turned away from Giovanni as well. Even so, a tear spilled down his face.

"F…Fine."

Little did he know, Giovanni was crying too.


	15. 22 Love and Other Extreme Sports

"Come on, Fido!" Denise yelled at Theophilus, who was grudgingly shuffling on all fours behind them. It wasn't the funniest nickname ever, but with the bright pink canine collar he was wearing, it sure was.

 _I'd claw your eyes out if not for these,_ he grumbled, holding up his claws, which were covered by pretty pink booties that matched his collar.

"Maybe if you were good enough to add clothes to your illusions you wouldn't need them," Denise grinned, enjoying herself very much. She pulled on the bedazzled leash that matched his pink collar and pink booties. It wasn't that he couldn't add clothes (having seen his illusions before on a test run, Denise saw that he actually had an amazing eye for details) but he couldn't replicate the actual feel of them, which would've been a problem if anyone bumped into Denise, Aries, or Theo while they were outside, and the point of using his illusions in the first place was to hide from the overactive Team Rocket members that were also in disguise all around Johto.

With a terrible sense of humor, Theo made himself a pet Furfrou with a Heart Trim (Denise had asked if that made him a female, which he pointedly refused to answer) and her and Aries a—bleck—a married couple. She would've throttled him for it but Aries held her back and, well, she didn't want to rile him up anymore; and besides, if any Team Rocket Grunts saw the three of them like that, there was no way they could recognize them—unless they had a Psychic-type or something, in which case Aries would give them a warning and they'd make a run for it.

"You look great, sweetheart," he grinned, thoroughly enjoying himself more than she was. The illusion made him appear a foot taller and a lot more debonair than he usually did in a dark suit and with nicely-gelled hair. Denise was a little shorter and looked too much like an '80s sitcom's housewife; even more annoying, she had to act the part too, and while Aries was too happy (as he always was, damn it) it was out of her nature to act generous and lovey-dovey. "Oh!" Aries put his arm out, stopping her just as she was about to cross the street.

"What?"

"Allow me," he said, his grin widening as he took off his blazer (which was actually a secondhand Trainer's jacket) and laid it over the puddle she was about to step in. She rolled her eyes and made sure to step on his hand as she walked past—well, his good hand. She had also been trying to avoid looking at the bandaged stump of his left wrist. Mew said that it was psychically possible to put his cells in overdrive and regrow it similar to how a Heliolisk could regrow its tail, but not with the amount of energy it or Aries himself could produce; if they found another Psychic-type Pokémon or strong human psychic, it said, then they could do it, but until then he had to become right-handed. She couldn't help feeling responsible for that too; it was her suggestion in the first place to try Team Rocket's HQ, and look where it got them.

They had went to the Goldenrod Pokémon Center and managed to get two rooms this time, since it was late at night and a trip back to Mahogany Town would take a while. Denise shared a room with Mew and Aries shared a room with Theo and Henry, the three of them being males (or for Aries, close to one {old habits die hard}). Denise took a long shower and dug in her bag afterwards for her clothes, and in the process she found her original clothes, the ones she left Pewter in that Aries had hand-washed. The thought of it made her feel happy and sad at the same time.

 _Denise, can I ask you a question?_ Mew asked, sitting on the windowsill.

"Sure, I guess."

 _Do you like Aries?_

"What?" she asked. "Why would you ask that?"

 _Any time you look at him or speak with him, I sense a tangle of emotions from you I can't really decipher. They aren't bad, but I can't tell if they mean anything either._

"Well I don't know either, okay? What, do you have a problem with how I care about him?"

 _No, no, on the contrary; I'm like his parent, and knowing that he's found a special someone is very, um,_ entertaining _, to put a word to it._ Mew giggled at Denise's irate expression before she became serious again. _But right now isn't the time for it, okay, Denise? After all is said and done, then you can decide what happens next._

"I'll see about that." She found a different t-shirt and jeans she picked up in the city and changed into them, flopping onto the bed tiredly. "This month's been a major adventure… I would've never done all of this had I stayed in Pewter. It's funny; I never really thought past all of its greys and browns, and here I am goin' through regions with you and Aries. It's ridiculous."

 _You're not homesick, Denise?_ Mew asked, flying over to land on Denise's raised knee. She sat up with a sigh.

"Of course I am; I have been since we left, Mew. All of this though… All of this has just been one big distraction. You know, Dee never challenged the Pokémon League, even though he had all eight Badges?"

 _Why is that?_

"Not sure, although I wish I could ask him."

Mew nodded. _You know, I believe this Pokémon Center has video communications._

Denise sat up again, eyes wide. "Really? You're serious? Then…"

 _You can go talk to your brother, Denise._

* * *

This is stupid; I mean, he might not even be in the Pokémon Center. Why would he be? It's two in the morning, she thought, shaking her head at the screen. It's been saying 'Dialing…' for the last ten minutes; he's not gonna pick up, he's not—

"I have a call from Goldenrod?" Denise's heart picked up as Dee appeared on the screen. He was looking over his shoulder at the Nurse Joy back home, who shrugged and went back to her work. When he saw Denise he immediately broke into a grin. "Denise! Damn, it's been too long!"

"Yeah, Dee! I missed you too."

"How's it going? I see you're in Johto," he said, looking around the PokéCenter she was in.

"Yeah, it's going pretty good. Not the best, but that's a Trainer's life, you know?"

"Yeah… Where's Henry?"

"He's in a room with Aries," she replied. Dee was silent for a few seconds.

"That boy you were with?"

"Yeah, him." He was silent again, which made her suspicious. "What's the problem with that?"

"Your tone changed as soon as you mentioned him," Dee said, causing her eyes to widen. "I mean, I was joking before, but…do you really—I mean, you and him…?"

"No! Of course not!" she said, shaking her head. He made a small noise in the back of his throat but didn't continue. "Why're you in the PokéCenter so late at night anyway?"

"Oh, um, Champ threw his back out a few hours ago," he said. "He's fine now though." His Machamp appeared on-screen pumped as ever.

"How'd that happen?"

"It was weird. We were passing a construction site and a steel beam almost killed me; Champ saved my life though, and I'm ultra-grateful." He fist-bumped Champ. "Don't know how it happened; the workers can't explain it either."

"Well I'm glad you're still alive 'n' kickin', Dee."

"Yeah, me too," he beamed. "Anyway, I gotta go before Mom has a coronary. I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

"Promise," she said before signing out. She sighed and dropped into one of the waiting chairs. The Pokémon Center's lobby was completely empty; even Nurse Joy and her Chansey had gone to catch some Zs. She thought about her house back in Pewter and plenty of other things too and started to ask herself the big question: _Is all of this worth it?_ "That's impossible to answer," she muttered aloud, leaning back in the chair with her eyes closed. She was just starting to fall asleep when she heard footsteps and immediately leapt to her feet, fists clenched.

"Oh, Theophilus, it's just you," she sighed, running her hands through her hair. He watched her carefully as she sat down again. "Don't scare me like that again. Hey…what's up?" She noticed something different about his eyes. They were the same color, yeah, and the same width apart and all that crap, but _something_ was different. "…Theophilus?"

He suddenly smirked, which made her think things were alright, until he said what he said next: _I thought I'd never hear that damned name again._

She lurched to her feet but he had her beat; he raced forward fast—faster than Theophilus, in fact—and slammed his fist into her stomach. She fell to her knees coughing and sputtering while he chuckled. "Y-You must b-be Val-Valentine," she choked out.

 _So my brother mentioned me, eh?_ he chuckled, still highly amused. _It took a great deal of tracking to find him after all of this time, but it'll be worth it when I can finally rip him to shreds._ He turned away, pacing across the waxed floor. Denise noticed something about his hair/fur; while Theo's was long and tapered to an end, Valentine's was sheared off around the beginning of his ponytail.

 _Aries,_ she thought, hoping that by some miracle he ignored her wishes and chose to invade her mind at that very moment. _If you can hear me, get the others and get out of here! Right_ now!

"What _is_ your beef with Theo anyway?" she asked, trying to stall for time.

 _Oh, he stole my girl, stole my bag of chips, stole my new sneakers,_ Valentine said blandly. Does every supervillain have to have a horrible sense of humor? Denise thought. _He's not as good a guy as he makes out to be,_ he said gravely.

"How would you know what he makes himself out to be, unless you've been stalking us?"

 _No, no, no! I would never,_ he gasped, genuinely affronted. _I just know my brother very well. My dear brother Theophilus loves to pin his blame on humans—humans do wrong with Pokémon, humans mess our lives up—and acts aloof as to not put any blame on himself, but the both of us and our pack know his wrongdoings very well._

"Bull," she snorted.

 _It may sound that way to you, but not to all of us who had to witness our pack leader lose his mind._ He looked at Denise and scoffed before kicking her in the stomach again, harder.

"Lucario!" Denise raised her head and saw Henry standing in the hallway's entrance, his fists clenched and an angry vein popping out of his neck. "Lucario, lu lu Lucario!" he yelled at Valentine, and Denise could sense his barely-repressed anger.

 _Don't do what again? You mean…this?_ He kicked her again, this time hard enough that she fell flat on the ground and couldn't catch her breath for a few seconds and tasted blood. _I mean, it's all the same to me,_ he said passively, and that was about it for Henry, who rushed him and punched him so hard Denise's jaw got sore. While Valentine was out of the park Henry carefully rolled her onto her side, lifting her shirt to investigate her stomach.

"Henry, it's okay," she muttered, her voice coming out breathy and rough. Valentine apparently did more damage than she thought, because if it was possible, Henry grew angrier. "Henry…"

"Lucari… Lucario…" '…kill…circumcision…'

"Wait, what?" she coughed, looking up. "Henry, say that again."

'The circumcision?' he asked, blinking.

"Circumcision is…disgusting…"

'You understood me. You understood me!' he said, eyes wide.

"You always were verbose when you were pissed off," she grinned. The smile fell off of her face when she looked back at Valentine, who was beginning to recover. "Are the others safe?"

'Yes, thanks to your warning. Get outside and find them while I handle this one.'

"But—damn it," she groaned as she tried to straighten up. Henry helped her to her feet, concern bright on his face. "He would—he would kill you, Henry."

'I won't die while I still have you to protect,' he said reassuringly. She rolled her eyes and tried to move forward before a fresh wave of pain stopped her, this time coupled with blood that welled up in her mouth and splattered on her chin when she started coughing. Henry caught her before she fell. 'On second thought, maybe I'm not fighting today.'

"Zoroark, zo, zo," Valentine suddenly growled, rubbing his jaw where a welt was forming. He looked at Denise, then back at Henry. "Zoroark. Zoroark zo zo Zoroark ark!"

'You're not going to touch her again or any of my friends,' Henry growled in response, lifting her into his arms. 'And if you try, I'll skin you alive and wear your fur as a coat.'

Valentine laughed humorlessly. "Zoroark zo!" he snapped, brandishing his claws.

'I don't rely on _advantages_ ,' Henry said. 'Like you do apparently, attacking a defenseless human. As Pokémon, we don't hurt humans, _Valentine_.'

"Zoroark? Zoroark zo zo ark Zoroark."

'She's not weak; none of them are.' Henry backed towards the door but Valentine followed him, his eyes focused like a predator's. He clenched his jaw and turned, bursting through the glass doors at an amazing speed, especially considering he was carrying Denise, who was taller than him and outweighed him. Even so, she could see Valentine gaining on them quickly as he moved through Goldenrod's streets. He neared a canal and suddenly slid to the left into an alley; Valentine wasn't expecting it and tripped over the railing, falling into the water. Henry laughed as he passed through several alleys, elated.

"You're a tricky bastard," Denise grinned.

'Thanks.' He barked as they neared the Magnet Train Station; she could see Aries, Mew, and Theo waiting by the train anxiously. He set her on her own feet and rushed forward just as a black blur raced out from the shadows. Everybody froze as Valentine stopped just in front of the station's steps, a grin on his face and blood dripping from his claws; Henry stopped too, his paws grasping the fresh slash marks on his chest. He fell to his knees as blood soaked through his fur, then he fell on his face.

 _I don't like getting wet,_ he said, flexing his claws. He spotted Theo and grinned; Theo scowled, stepping forward. They didn't talk—or maybe they didn't speak for all of them in retrospect, but the energy between them was clear.

 _Run,_ Theo said, the thought so sudden Denise had a hard time understanding it. In a second he had Valentine on the ground, the two of them locked in a stalemate. _I said RUN!_ he repeated, louder.

"Come on!" Aries called as the train started moving. The shrieking whistle cut her off as she began to reply, then she just said _To hell with it_ and rammed Theo off of Valentine, grabbing Valentine's wrists and sending both of them tumbling across the asphalt. Theo hit the ground on all fours, staring at her in a mix of shock and a little bit of gratitude. Valentine growled and pulled his left arm free, slashing her across her cheek; she tasted blood and saw it drip on his fur and twisted him around, pulling his arms behind his back and holding him down with her boot.

 _What was that?_ Theo called, startled.

"Denise's hostile takeover," Aries called back.

 _She_ did _say she would be the one to defeat Valentine,_ Mew said.

 _But it's_ my _brother—_

"It doesn't matter!" she shouted at him, struggling to keep Valentine's arms down. "I told you I'd be the one to fight him and I'm going to be the one to fight him!" And brothers shouldn't have to fight each other like this, not in any world, she thought, imagining Derrick and Dee going at it so roughly and cringing.

"Zoro—" _Humans aren't built to fight Pokémon, and that's that!_ Valentine said, his hair bristling as he hit her in the face again with Shadow Claw; she moved back in time to avoid the worst of the pain and injury, but she didn't doubt that she'd have scars later.

"You don't mess with my friends," Denise hissed, tightening her grip on him. He started shaking from the effort he was making to escape. "You don't mess with Theo." Theophilus gave her a perplexed look. "And you _don't_ mess with Henry, because then you're messing with _me_."

 _Ack!_ Valentine opened his mouth and released a Flamethrower. She gasped and raised her arms to her face, but at such a close distance it didn't do anything to stop the fire. She felt the heat prickling her skin and smelled the smoke for just a second, then she couldn't feel it at all; as a matter of fact, she could stare at it as if there was glass between her and the smoke.

 _One advantage of Protect is that the barrier can be molded to fit the physique of any Pokémon—or in this case, human,_ Mew said. Denise looked up and saw that her eyes were glowing, and to a lesser extent so were Aries' and Theo's. Denise smirked down at Valentine, who actually started to look like he was panicking.

 _L-Let go of me, damn it!_ he cried, struggling against her grip. She released one of his arms to punch him in the face.

"That was for Theophilus." She hit him again, harder this time, and heard his jaw pop. "That was for Henry." She hit him again and again and again, angry. "That was—for every—damn person—you ever laid—your hands on—Valentine!" She was pissed off—well, that wasn't new, but everything had finally caught up to her—all that crap with Team Rocket, Team Galactic, Silver, Mewtwo—and Valentine was just unlucky enough to have pushed her buttons and ended up as her stress ball—or Pokémon, but if she kept knockin' him like that he'd end up in a ball shape.

She punched him again, hearing her knuckles crack and bruise and hearing some bone of his crack. He was groaning, halfway to unconsciousness with blood dribbling out of his mouth. He already had a black eye and a swollen nose; she could've done more damage too if Aries hadn't grabbed her fist.

"Denise," he whispered, gripping her hand gently but firmly. She whipped her head around to glare at him, infuriated, then felt her face fall at his blank expression. He had made plenty of faces in the time that she'd known him, but never ever _ever_ had he just looked so empty. She shook her head as she stood up, leaving Valentine groaning on the floor.

"I'm sorry," she murmured to nobody in particular. She saw Theo inspect his brother's face and he sighed.

 _He'll live, albeit with a few more bone protuberances,_ he said, lifting Valentine onto his shoulder. Them being the same height, it was awkward, but Theo managed. _I'll take him back to the Pokémon Center._ He shuffled past Denise and Aries, avoiding looking at either of them.

"Oh, Arceus," she groaned, digging her palm into her forehead.

 _He's going to live,_ Mew said, perplexed.

"That's not the…damn it… That's not the point. I shouldn't have beat him up like that; I shouldn't have." She kicked the ground angrily, then remembered that her anger got her in that situation in the first place. "I just… Gaaaaah!" She clenched her head, grinding her teeth together. Mew touched her shoulder, trying to console her, and Aries kept looking with that blank expression.

"We should go," he said. "Henry needs a PokéCenter, and I really don't think we're wanted at this one, and you need medical attention too, Denise."

 _Yes,_ Mew said for Denise, taking her hand. Denise moaned a bit.

"I'm coming," she muttered. "I'm coming…"


	16. 225 The Lost Art of Speaking

Aries remembered a time in the hospital that between the five of them there were no inhibitions or secrets; in other terms, for a while, they all could be very candid with each other.

In waking up, aside from a lingering numbness from the medication in his blood, he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary (although that's more of a pun, saying that he couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary when the one thing out of the ordinary—that being his hand—was completely gone, which meant he wouldn't be able to feel it in any event). He shook his head to clear it and saw Theophilus curled into a furry red ball in the corner, fast asleep, while Mew was curled half under the bed in a similar dream state. Henry was leaning against the pale wall on the far side of the room next to the solitary window, arms crossed over his chest as he slept quietly. Then Denise was sitting in a folding chair at the foot of the hospital bed, her head down so her curls were all over the sheets and her arms were thrown over his legs. He full-on laughed at that sight, causing her to stir.

"Wha's… Aries?" She rolled her head to the side to look at him sleepily. "Am I dreaming this…?"

"I understand that I have a very divine visage, but I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a dream," he smirked. She groaned and turned away—then Denise sat up straight, eyes wide.

"Aries? I really—you're _awake_?"

"Yes," he laughed quietly, his voice somewhat hoarse. She started to make a sound that sounded suspiciously like an amazed squeak but choked herself off, waking Henry in the process.

'Wha's goin'?' he slurred, looking around in confusion. He saw Aries and broke into a grin. 'You're awake!'

"Yes, that seems to be the theme of the party," he said. Mew, too, came awake, tackling the side of his face with its thoughts too disorderly to decipher, but it was obviously glad to see him conscious.

 _Where's the party?_ Theo muttered, unfurling and flopping on his back.

"Aries is awake, you fluffed-up rat!" Denise said to him. He snorted and rolled over, but Aries could see the small smile on his face. Denise's hands curled into fists as she looked into his eyes.

"How do you feel?" she asked hesitantly. He thought for a second.

"Tired," he admitted. "Burned out. But the point is that I'm alive, right?" he smiled.

 _Your spiritual purity is like acid to my mind and barf signals to my stomach,_ Theo piped up.

'Don't mind him; he's just mad that he can't find a Pokémon hair stylist,' Henry said.

 _Aries,_ Mew said, finally getting itself together. It hovered just above his lap before moving forward, touching his bandaged shoulder and chest warily. _None of this affects you?_

"Do you mean physically or mentally?"

 _Both._

"Physically, it's all numb, but mentally…" He shifted to draw his arm out from under the sheets, staring at his bandaged wrist. The warp panel's energy had cut it very cleanly; his wrist very much resembled a stump, flat and smooth down to his remaining bones. "This will take some getting used to, but I try to look at the positives."

"You always do," Denise muttered.

"Why does that sound so depressing coming from your mouth?"

"No reason," she said in a tone that denoted plenty of reasons.

 _Denise is acting odd,_ he thought to Henry.

 _You mean more than usual?_

 _I'm not joking, Henry._

 _I know, I know, just… She was real worried about you, and she feels culpable since she was the one that suggested going to Team Rocket's HQ in the first place._

Aries scowled a bit, finding the thought absurd in many ways. "Denise, please, don't act so rigid around me, especially after you've begun taking so much comfort in constantly threatening my life and person."

"I don't have fun doing it, I just do it to teach you a lesson," she said, suddenly affronted. He was more used to that than her moping, at least. "Like how parents spank their kids so they learn not to put their hand on the stovetop."

"I think that putting your hand on the stovetop will teach you not to put your hand on the stovetop well enough," he pointed out. Theo barked something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh and even Mew chuckled a bit.

"You've a crappy way of making people feel better," she muttered.

"Aww, I'm sorry, do you want a hug?" he mused, taking her hand in his remaining one.

"If you hug me I'll rip your arms off and beat you with them."

'She's not kidding,' Henry added.

"But she is," Aries smiled. "I'm very able to tell your true anger from your defensive one at this point, Denise."

 _Defensive anger?_ Mew asked, perplexed.

"Yes, defensive anger. She acts angry as to avoid displaying the affection I know she has for me—" She suddenly squeezed his hand so hard it made him feel lightheaded. "Oof."

 _Yes, I can very well see that affection,_ Theo said dryly.

"Love hurts, especially from Denise," Aries laughed through the pain. She released his hand and stood up.

"I'm going to get some coffee," she said, leaving and slamming the door. Aries stared after her in confusion; finally, Henry sighed and moved over to occupy her chair.

'I didn't want to say anything because making jokes seems to be your way of coping,' he said, giving Aries a level look, 'but I don't want you to crack so many, especially now; she really was very worried about you even if she can't show it well, and I've told you already that she blames herself. Also, this—' he gestured to Aries' lack of hand, '—doesn't help, so keep it hidden, a'ight?'

"Alright; I understand, Henry."

'Good.' He nodded once.

 _What are you, the girl's father?_ Theo snorted.

"Oh, Theophilus, don't be jealous that Denise has family that loves her very much."

 _I do have that,_ he muttered. _Or used to…I don't know…_

'Shouldn't that be unambiguous?' Henry asked. 'I mean, you either have a family or you don't.'

 _Guess I'm a damn ambiguity._ Aries looked between them and sighed.

"Henry, Mew, can you leave for a moment?"

 _Oh, don't tell me we're going to have a heart-to-heart,_ Theophilus complained.

"Yes, that's exactly what we're going to have. Henry, Mew?"

Henry shrugged and turned to Mew, who transformed into a Hoothoot and followed him out of the door. It shut softly behind them, and he felt their energy dwindle as they moved farther out of psychic reach. "Tell me, Theophilus," Aries urged softly.

 _Just dig in my mind and find out for yourself,_ he grumbled, rolling to his side.

"Theophilus, you understand as well as I do how this works: I can only see your immediate thoughts; as a Dark-type, your body prevents me from looking beyond what you give me."

 _Maybe I don't want to give it to you; maybe I want to keep my story to myself._ Aries might have believed him—if his voice hadn't started cracking at the end of that sentence.

"Theo, please; we may not be BFFs, but trust me when I tell you that I am one of the few people in this world that genuinely care about you."

 _Why would you care about me?_ He sounded alarmingly despondent and broken; even though his back was to Aries, Aries imagined that he was crying a little.

"Because you're my friend, Theophilus."

 _Friend…_ He sniffled a little before blowing his nose into his shoulder; Aries made a mental note not to touch him for a while. (They were buddies, yes, but not germ-buddies.) _Damn, I shouldn't be crying. Men don't cry._

"Oh, feel free to do so; I'm not here to judge."

Theo was quiet for a few seconds, apparently getting his thoughts in order. _I haven't had a friend since Valentine years ago,_ he finally said. _You see, we aren't really brothers…well, blood brothers… I was a stray that the pack picked up, and it was Valentine's family that took me in. I was…happy; my old Trainer, she would always force me to battle, battle, battle… I was finally free, and not only that but with a pack of my own Pokémon._

That explains his hang-up with humans, at least, Aries thought. "And you were happy?"

 _Well, duh!_ he snapped, bristling, then he calmed down again. _Sorry, just… Yeah, I was happy; I had food, home, and a real family—a lot of them, the entire pack—and I was just…happy. Then when I got older, my illusionary powers came, and in my old pack that was like puberty for you guys; I was officially an adult._

"And something went wrong?" Aries guessed. Theo nodded.

 _Something went very wrong. The thing about illusions is that they're dangerous, not only to others but to the user as well; you have to be in control constantly or else they'll eat you up, and I'm only slightly exaggerating. I was cocky, alright? and I thought I had everything under control…I didn't,_ he said morosely. _Arceus, I really didn't._

"What happened?"

 _I'm…not sure. No, no, that's a lie,_ he grumbled. _It's all a big haze, alright? I remember I did some bad stuff, like attacking Valentine to become leader of the pack, except I wasn't a cool leader like him, I was…what's the word…_

"Crazy," Aries supplied.

 _Crazy,_ he agreed. _I don't know how long things went like that, but one day Valentine just…snapped…and I woke up in the PokéCenter with you all._

"Interesting concept; physical pain can break one out of an illusion, even self-induced," Aries mused. Theo exhaled slowly, scratching his ear.

 _It feels…good to tell. I think._

"Hey." Suddenly the door slammed open and Theo, being in its path, was slammed against the wall. Denise stepped forward, allowing it to shut, and he slid to the ground in a heap of limbs. "That's gonna leave a mark, yeah," she said, sitting down with her paper cup filled with hot coffee. Aries sighed.

"Theophilus are you alright?"

 _Oof. Jeez, give me a minute. Ack, yeah, good thing we're in a hospital._ He shuffled to his feet and left groaning and with his bones creaking.

"I don't mind you verbally and physically abusing me, but please don't do so with the Pokémon, okay?"

"I do what I want," she muttered petulantly, taking a long drink of coffee. He smirked and held her free hand, causing her to do an amazing spit-take on his face. "Arceus!" she exclaimed, her face turning as red as his. (Although the difference was hers was red out of embarrassment; Aries' was red from burns.)

"You are an amazing woman, truly," he said, using the blanket to wipe his face clean. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Who's paying for my hospital stay?"

"I am," she said, calming down. "Me and Henry and Theo did a bunch of odd jobs to pay for all of this."

"You all did…?"

"Of course; you're a jerk sometimes, but you're our friend, Aries."

"T…Thank you, Denise…"

"Oh, don't tell me you're gonna get all teary-eyed," she groaned, backing the chair away. "I hate tears."

"But you were crying when I was injured, were you not?" he challenged. Her cheeks turned red in embarrassment and indignation. She punched his shoulder—his injured one, at that—and he doubled over clenching it.

"Oh, crap! Did I hurt you?" she said, instantly mollified. "Sorry, I just—"

"I'd feel better if I had a Castelia Cone," he said, grinning up at her. He expected her to be angry at his little trick, but instead she seemed relieved he wasn't actually hurt. That finally allowed him to comprehend how truly concerned she was for his health and well-being. "Oh, Denise," he muttered, lowering himself until he could draw the covers over his face.

"What… What are you doing?"

"I'm just…I don't know…it's strange having people other than Mew care about me as much as you all do," Aries admitted. "I don't know how it makes me feel."

"Just be happy, Aristotle," she said, and he heard the door open and close again.

'Do you guys know what happened to Theophilus?' Henry asked. 'His nose looked broken when I saw him.'

"Gee, no idea," Denise said, and she was a pretty damn good liar. "Hey, Aries, can I ask a question?"

"Depends," he said, sitting up. "How personal is it?"

"Not all that personal," she replied. "Before Mew, what did you want to do with your life?"

Aries opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, but no words came out. He just hadn't thought about that in so long… "I wanted to be a Pokémon Professor, Denise," he finally answered. She raised her eyebrows. "What, did you not expect that?"

"No, I very much expected that."

'You never wanted to be a Trainer?'

"Well, yes, but not for the Pokémon League; I just found it too competitive and too much a show of who's the best fighter and not who has the best relationship with their Pokémon."

'You must've been a real a-hole as a kid,' Henry commented. 'I mean, no offense.'

"None taken, I know I was. Guess I've made up for that now though," he added, gesturing to the hospital room.

"Aries…" Mew interrupted, returning to the room with a blue-iced cupcake featuring a 17-shaped candle.

 _I almost forgot,_ it said, smiling apologetically as it rested the cupcake in his good hand. _Happy birthday, Aristotle._

"It's your birthday?" Denise asked, confused. He nodded.

"It's really nothing to celebrate," he sighed. "It just puts me closer to death."

'You're one of those guys, huh? C'mon, it's your birthday,' Henry said. 'You gotta be happy about that.' He only sighed again, blowing out the candle's flame before handing the cupcake to Denise.

"I'm tired; I'm going back to sleep." She grimaced a little, but it was no excuse; he wasn't completely healed and he'd been talking for a while. Henry touched Denise's shoulder; she sighed and got up, leaving with him. Aries dropped to the pillow and closed his eyes. Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if he hadn't gotten Denise and Henry and Theo involved in his bullcrap.


	17. 23 Fidelity or Lack Thereof

Mahogany Town was, by its own definition, a suspicious place, and hell yeah damn sure it was. Denise and Mew (in the form of an Espeon so telepathy wouldn't look so weird) waited outside of the Pokémon Center after visiting the town's clinic as Aries took Henry inside, staring dejectedly at the Souvenir Shop. It would've been funny if she didn't feel so crappy and Henry wasn't so hurt.

"Are we really safe standing in the enemy's city like this?" Denise asked Mew quietly.

 _They are occupied at the moment,_ she replied, although she seemed highly on edge too. _Oddly, Silver isn't in the city, even though I can feel some of his malevolent spirit in the air._

"Maybe he found another town to terrorize?"

 _Perhaps._ There was a pause. _Please, Denise; Valentine will be fine, and I believe Theophilus could use the opportunity to talk, as they are brothers. Legendaries, we don't have physical families as you all do, but Arceus was somewhat of a father to me; if I could speak to him once more…_ Her little shoulders slumped; Denise patted her paw awkwardly.

"'s alright." Then she looked up, seeing somebody walk out of the Souvenir Shop. "Mew, who's that?"

 _Don't use my name here where we have so many listeners,_ Mew warned.

"Sorry, sorry, but look." She gestured to the crimson-haired man that was standing in the middle of the town and looking around. In the darkness, she couldn't see his face well and panicked. "We have to go!"

 _It's not Silver,_ Mew sighed. _I can read his mind; that is the Elite Four's Lance, although… Hmm, it appeared he had met Silver a while ago—recently, actually. They battled, but Silver seems to be crying in the memory…_

"Excuse me," Lance suddenly said, turning to Denise and crossing the distance between them. She noticed he was being followed by a large and slightly-wary Dragonite. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"Sulking, I guess," she mumbled. Lance stared at her for a while before sitting next to her, his red cape falling over his regal black clothes. He looked younger and friendlier than he did on T.V. and random corner store merchandise, but at the same time distant.

"Can I sulk with you?"

"Well… Sure, but…" She watched Mew trot into the Pokémon Center and waited until the doors shut, staring at the square of light they made on the grass. "Don't you have Pokémon League-ish duties to attend to?"

"More than you know," he sighed. "But I was here trying to find a certain Trainer… It seems he's already left."

"A Trainer with red hair and a lot of attitude, I'm assuming?"

"You know him?"

"Sort of," she muttered. "Why are you looking for him?"

"I fought him a while ago, you see," he explained. "I saw the way he treated his Pokémon—like tools, just means to reach an end—and it hurt and sickened me, so I sought to battle him to teach him a lesson. As powerful as they were, they weren't a match for our friendship—isn't that right, Dragonite?"

"Drag," his Dragonite grinned.

"Anyhow, I've been trying to see if my lesson took root, but I haven't been able to find him," he said, scratching his neck.

"That's good; he's not exactly the guy people go lookin' for, if you catch my drift," Denise said, scratching the bandage patch on her cheek.

"Then how do you know him?" Lance asked.

"Messed with some of my friends, the jerk."

"He _is_ a jerk," he agreed. "But not totally—I can tell. He seemed to learn something from our battle, at the very least, so I believe he's not completely dark."

"He's a deceitful person; I wouldn't place my hopes on that."

Lance just shrugged, standing up and checking his Xtransceiver. "It seems my free time is over," he said, turning to Denise. "It was nice talking to you…?"

"Denise," she supplied.

"Denise," he smiled, climbing onto his Dragonite. Denise watched them go up into the sky until he took off, disappearing over the horizon. She heard the doors open and close again, then someone else sat next to her.

"Henry will be fine by sunrise," Aries said blandly. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye; he was staring at the stars, his face still blank. She let her eyes drop to his missing hand, the arm of which was buried in his cloak, and started grinding her teeth. "Please don't do that; you'll loosen a filling."

"What are you, my dentist? Why are you even still worrying about me?" she asked, burying her face in her raised knees. "'Cause of me…"

"None of this was your fault Denise, damn it!" he suddenly exclaimed, causing her to snap her head towards him. "Damn it—if you have to put blame, put it on _all_ of us, alright? Just…stop…feeling bad…"

"Aries?" she asked warily. He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I apologize for acting so distant," he said quietly. "But it really had nothing to do with you; instead, I was thinking about a certain visitor I had in the hospital."

"Who? But I thought you were unconscious the whole time?"

"Perhaps, but my subconscious remained very awake and aware." She felt her face burn at the begging she'd done at his bedside. _Don't die…please don't die…please…don't bleed out…Aries, I'm sorry…_ He smirked, showing he was still enough of a bastard to read her thoughts. "Red," he said.

"Like _, Pokémon Master Red?_ You're kidding me."

"Oho, I'm not," he said with an odd expression; it wasn't really smug, but he didn't seem particularly sad either. "He had a message."

"Which is…?"

"Oak is alive," he said, his voice becoming rough with sadness.

"Like, the Pokémon Professor Oak?"

"The very same, and he's in _there_." He pointed at the Souvenir Shop.

"What? How? Why? Wasn't he in Pallet Town when—you know?"

"He was out of town at the time, actually, and Red stated that Team Rocket got him within their grubby hands when he returned to the remains of Pallet to investigate. They were using his expertise on Pokémon for their genetic experiments all of this time, Denise," he answered, shaking his head. "Creating more things like Mewtwo and Deoxys." She felt a chill go down her spine. "He—Red—wanted to intervene, but he only has his six Pokémon, which cannot challenge a team as expansive and powerful as Team Rocket."

"But we're just sitting here chatting about it all instead of goin' in there and knockin' heads?"

"What can we do without Henry and Theo?" he sighed. "Not much, especially with an idea of Team Rocket's power and labyrinthine base."

"What about Mew?" Denise asked, even though she already knew the answer.

" _Be careful_ , I said," he warned. "And it's still too preoccupied holding the world together, may I remind you."

"Yeah, because the Legendaries are just spirit energy familiars or whatever, right?"

"Close enough."

"Can't you—oh, I don't know how this psychic stuff works—thank Arceus that I don't have to worry about that bullcrap in _my_ everyday life—" he actually looked a little affronted by that, "—but can't you speed up their revival or convince them to come back sooner or something? I mean, it's been eleven years, if all of you are telling the truth—those bastards have slept in enough."

Aries laughed out of disbelief and general amusement. "It's not that simple."

"Fine! Tell me why," she challenged. Aries worked his jaw, looking a little irritated, but then his face fell.

"I have no idea why, actually."

"Then get to it, because Me—you-know-who is more than a valuable asset to this and against you-know-what."

"I'll have to tell it," he said. "It knows the Legendaries better and has more psychic experience, but if it does work…" His face lit up for the first time since they reached Mahogany Town. "Denise, it might work!" he suddenly exclaimed, throwing his arms around her and hugging her tightly. She gasped at the contact and was stiff before melting a little, patting his shoulder.

"Dude…I mean, like…don't."

"Hah," he coughed, pulling away and crossing his arms over his chest. "I am sorry." Something about his voice sounded strange, like it went up a half step.

"Dude…?"

"What?"

"Nothing." She punched his shoulder, causing him to groan, but he smiled a little. He stood up, offering a hand.

"There's a room inside for us. I'm sorry I couldn't get two, but the Pokémon Center isn't large enough to separate boys and girls."

"'s alright," she said, taking his hand and getting to her feet. "I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Talk? Did we not just talk? About what?"

"Just talk," she said. "Like friends do."

* * *

"You're serious?" Denise laughed, mashing the pillow down on top of her crossed legs. Aries nodded from the other bed, practicing on floating his pillow telepathically without dislocating his joints. "The famous freaking Gary Oak was a goofball?"

"Him and his friend Ash…Ketchum," he said thoughtfully. "Those two would go on all kinds of misadventures together, I swear. Hm… And at my Pokémon School, they were the most excitable students."

"Wait, you went to school?"

"Affirmative, chief."

"I thought you learned everything from books?" she said, confused.

"I did learn a lot from books, however I attended daycare and preschool just the same. I spent one year in primary school before…" He paused thoughtfully, then smiled. "I just went on my own after that."

"Before what?" she pressed. His expression changed.

"Please, Denise—"

"Remember from a long while ago, back in Cerulean? You still owe me a thought, Aristotle."

"Very well," he sighed, letting the pillow fall to the sheets. "Remember the Pokérus epidemic that took thousands of lives around Kanto, Pokémon and human?"

"Ye—crap, don't tell me—you're kidding—"

"My parents, Denise," he interrupted, rubbing his jaw. "Some of us, as you know from school, had that certain gene that made us immune; others didn't."

"Damn, well, I'm sorry," she said, trying to imagine a life without her parents since age six and failing. He sighed, waving her off.

 _You're referring to the Pokérus epidemic?_ Mew said suddenly, standing up from the foot of Aries' bed. Denise gasped a little; she thought that Mew had been sleeping the whole time.

"Y-Yes," Aries said, surprised as well. Mew scratched her nose anxiously, which both of them picked up.

"There a problem?" Denise asked, leaning forward. Mew looked around the room psychically (Denise learned how to tell after spending so much time with those psychic weirdos) before turning into its original form, curling up into a wad of bubblegum-pink fur.

 _The fact that you lived…and not Melanie and James…the fault for that lies with me_ , she murmured _,_ her mental voice weak. Every noise-making object in the world managed to be quiet for ten seconds as they all exchanged looks.

" _What?_ " Aries exhaled, looking like somebody had scraped all of his insides out. Mew quickly jumped into the air, grasping her tail nervously.

 _I'm sorry, Aries, but this was a long while ago—I myself had even forgotten about it, what with Deoxys' attack and Rayquaza and the fact that you were a child with no guardians getting harassed daily—although the fault of no guardians lies with me—_

" _Mew._ " That was probably the angriest he'd ever been at Mew, who squeaked in response. Tears built in her large eyes as she told him, except she didn't include Denise in her telepathy—thank Arceus for that, actually, because by Aries' shattered expression, she probably didn't want to know.

Suddenly Aries clenched his fists, and in that second Mew shot backwards by Psychic, crashing against the wall with a loud _thud!_ and hitting the ground with a moan. Aries' eyes widened and he jumped to his feet at the sight of her. He swallowed, then yelped, then he ran out of the room. Denise almost chased after him but stopped, sensing he needed some alone time, although she wished it wasn't so close to the enemy's HQ.


	18. 24 Scents and Sensibility

_'_ _I was fascinated with you Aries, and at the time Pokérus abounded; I feared you would catch it, as would your parents, when the strain reached Pallet Town, and at the time it was easy for me to use Psychic on the cellular level, so I…sort of…tweaked your DNA.'_

 _"_ _Then why not my parents!? Why just me!?"_

 _'_ _It would have been easier to track you…if not for a parent's watchful eye… I'm sorry, Aries. I still thought of humans as just playthings and I didn't consider your feelings at all; I truly am sorry.'_

 _"_ _Yeah, I'm sorry too."_

Aries stared at the rising sun before rubbing his eyes hard with the butts of his hands; they were dry and irritated from his lack of sleep, but he couldn't really amend that problem with all of the information cramping his skull. It was stupid; they had a bigger goal in mind than his life which, frankly, was just as important too—

"Damn it," he muttered, falling back on the Pokémon Center's roof. He remembered Mew's constant reprimanding for swearing but just said to hell with it—literally. "Damn it, damn it—crap," he hissed as a Combee landed on his bare leg. He kicked him away angrily.

'Jeez, calm down!' the Combee called, buzzing away. He rubbed his palms together, trying to distract himself from the pressure building in his mind. He couldn't risk losing his cool, not as a psychic—he couldn't risk heavy emotions in general, evident by what happened to Mew when he became angry—but—

"Pfuaaa!" Something that had been climbing onto the roof was knocked back from his psychic release and sent to the ground. He turned away from the ladder, burying his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Henry."

'Jeez, and I was already beat-up too.' Henry started towards him, then he stopped a few feet away. 'Mew told me what it told you—I'm sorry if it seemed personal, but I asked—'

"I'm glad you know," he interrupted. "The more people that know its true nature, the better."

Henry made a sound that was a hybrid of a grunt and sigh. 'Aries, I know it was messed up, but that was years ago and it's obviously sorry—'

"And what's that going to do for me, huh? I should've died with them, Henry, and I was spared—not only that, but they were left to suffer. Did you see what Pokérus did to people? It was almost Biblical; I never felt worse for my parents in my entire life, that I couldn't share their pain and had to watch them waste away in front of me." He swallowed, feeling old tears prick at his eyes. "…It's just a horrible thing to happen to anybody."

'I know. Arceus, I know.' Henry finally approached him, sitting next to him, although Aries didn't look at him. 'You know, my mother laid my Egg while she had Pokérus—that's why I was a Bad Egg.'

"Hnn." He actually _didn't_ know; those types of memories were too deep for a simple thought-skimming.

'I didn't know her for that long after I hatched,' he continued thoughtfully, 'but what I saw was horrid. That damn Pokérus wrecked her, you know, and she was a stray too; she suffered in an alleyway all the way 'til her death.'

"You were out there with her?" Henry shook his head.

'No; Denise had found my Egg a long while ago and took me in. She hatched me, but because of instincts I went to find her and—well—you know what I found. I cried over her body until Denise found me and took me back, and since then she's been taking care of me.'

"That is a sweet story, Henry, but it doesn't help with my situation."

Henry sighed, leaning back on his paws. 'I dunno, I just wanted to share… Anyway, Aries, as mad as you are at Mew, you can't honestly be angry that it gave you a chance at living?'

"That's not it…it's the 'your parents were just in the way between us' creepypasta part that I didn't like."

'Oh, that. Well, I don't know how to solve that problem,' he admitted. 'But—and this is just my advice here—I think you should wait until after we're done with that other problem.' He indicated the Souvenir Shop.

"Dam-dang it, you're right, Henry." He dropped his hands to the gritty rooftop, staring at his palms before he raised his eyes to Henry. The Pokémon Center's machine had worked wonders on his injury, and yet there were three claw scars over his chest and left shoulder that would remain there for the rest of his life. "I'm sorry for everything else, Henry; if not for my coming to Pewter City in the first place, you and Denise never would have been roped into my problems."

''s no biggie,' he shrugged. 'Denise would've gone out on her own at some point, and I'm bound to follow her in whatever she does. Also, after seeing Silver and Mewtwo, I'm glad to knock some sense into the nutcases that made _them_.'

Aries chuckled weakly. "Articulate as always."

'Well.' He got to his feet. 'We should go now, while we still have some time left.' He indicated the shop again.

"Without Theophilus?"

Henry grimaced. 'Sadly, that's not the case.'

* * *

 _What took you so long?_ Theo snorted as soon as they walked in the room, shutting the door.

"You're not angry?" Aries asked, gesturing at Denise, who was still asleep. Theo shrugged.

 _I mean, it's not like I've never just beaten people up for the hell of it, and Val really deserved it, but…he's my brother; it was_ my _job to knock some sense into him, but honestly I'm glad_ somebody _did._ He sighed, scratching behind his ear. _He left after he was healed; I'm not sure where he went, but we had a little talk and I'm pretty sure that our issues are more or less resolved. Thank you, guys; maybe humans aren't as bad as I thought._

"Most of us anyway," Aries said. "Anyway, we still have one last job to do before our little group is disbanded."

Theo nodded. _So how's this gonna work? We storm in guns blazing or what?_

'Well, considering how well things went the last time,' Henry said, looking at Aries' missing hand, 'we need an actual strategy this time—a clear goal would help too, matter of fact.'

"The goal is to take out Team Rocket and its affiliations," Aries said, ticking off fingers as he continued, "Which includes Boss Giovanni, Mewtwo, Deoxys, and Silver."

 _Cyrus as well._

"Yes, Cyrus as well, so that makes five enemies in total, and counting the each of us, that's…"

'Five,' Henry supplied. 'So we split up for this. I'll take Deoxys; I owe that bastard anyway.'

 _Then I'll handle Cyrus,_ Theo said, cracking his knuckles.

"I have Silver," Aries said. "And I believe Denise can take care of Giovanni."

'And Mew will get Mewtwo—if we find it, in any case,' Henry said.

"Then all of that is settled; we only have to wake Denise to tell her of the plan." Aries tried calling her name, shaking her shoulder, and even Theo's dumb idea that involved whipped cream and warm water, but she was an amazingly deep sleeper. "How do you usually wake her up, Henry?"

'We don't,' he said. 'We were raised in a city of heavy machinery and construction; it takes a lot to wake one of us up.'

"Oh, well." He decided to try waking her up through her dreams. He slipped into her mind and— "Arceus!" he exclaimed, jumping backwards.

'What?' Henry asked as Denise sat up, looking at Aries.

"Tell me I dreamed that," she said, her jaw clenching anxiously.

"You dreamed it," Aries confirmed, rubbing his face.

 _Why are your faces red?_ Theophilus asked. Denise scowled; Aries turned away.

"She had a funny dream," Aries elaborated, although he didn't mention what kind of funny it was. It certainly wasn't hah-hah funny, as Theo took it; it was more like the dads-would-kill-you funny that Henry thought it was. "Anyway, Denise, we have an official battle plan in order." He explained their splitting up to her while she tried to get her thoughts in order.

"And do you have any clue where any of those guys are?" she asked at the end.

"It's not as if things like Mewtwo and Deoxys can remain hidden.

 _Like Cyrus is a hard person to find,_ Theo snorted. _Just look for the stupid tinfoil suits_

"Fair point," she agreed. "But there are people like Silver who, amazingly, can."

"I can locate his presence easily enough; he _is_ a very memorable person. I just have to find the nearest source of depression."

"Then we're all gonna do this?" She looked between them as they nodded. "When?"

"Now," Aries said. "Henry, Theo, and I have to leave now to catch up with our targets."

"What about Mew?" Denise asked, "It flew off somewhere; you're not gonna look for it?"

"It's going to return to the room soon enough," he said passively, pulling his shirt over his head and taking up his original clothes. "You'll still be here to tell it what to do."

"Jeez," Denise sighed, then she looked at his bare torso. "What happened to your body?" she asked worriedly, pointing at the old scars and marks on his skin.

"Playground bullies," he answered, confused. "I thought those were common?"

"Yeah, but…yeah. Never mind." She stood up and took her backpack into the bathroom, shutting the door. Aries smiled a little at her concern, getting a displeased throat-clearing from Henry.

"After all of this, I wonder…"

'She's too good for you,' Henry said almost instantly.

"Thank you, Denise's father." He slipped his original t-shirt on and fitted his cloak over his body. He waited for Denise to finish before continuing, "Now, I have gathered a stockpile of information on each of the marks; I believe it wise to share it with you all now."

'Lay it on us, slick.'

"I should start with Deoxys; from what…from what Mew's told me, Deoxys has four different forms: Attack, Defense, Speed, and Normal, which it is most seen in. Each form strengths the said stat, making Deoxys a virtual powerhouse."

'All the same, I can take it,' Henry said, undeterred. Aries nodded.

"Enthusiasm is always welcome, Henry. Denise, Giovanni is ill, as the media has stated; it should be easy to _immobilize_ him and _call the authorities_ , although breaking into Team Rocket HQ is another story—they would obviously have beefed up security measures since then, which I cannot investigate, so I warn you to _exercise extreme caution_."

"Don't patronize me; I know how to be safe, Aristotle," she said, rolling her eyes.

 _Was there supposed to be a sex joke somewhere in there?_ Theo asked. Aries interjected to prevent Denise from acting upon her thoughts of throttling him.

"And Theophilus, Cyrus seems to be reenacting upon his plan of summoning Dialga and Palkia, and as they are mostly formed this is very plausible. Team Galactic is peculiar but strong nonetheless; they are _not_ to be taken lightly, as with Team Rocket—"

"Seriously, don't patronize me," Denise said crossly; something wicked this way comes, thought Aristotle.

"—and I don't want you to get hurt or killed. The main ones to avoid are the Admins; the Grunts have weaker Pokémon, making them a small threat, but Cyrus is the largest, being the Boss, and if he does somehow manage to physically summon Dialga and Palkia, I very much recommend that you run."

 _I never run; running is for bastards,_ he said. _I'll fight him no matter the stakes, if not for myself then for you guys, my friends._

'This is getting awfully sappy,' Henry said warily. Aries grinned.

"That about covers it all. Any questions, comments, last wishes?"

"You feel like such a comedian, but most of the time your jokes just make me depressed," Denise commented, and Henry agreed, although that wasn't very peculiar.

"Yes, I'll surely take comedy advice from you, Denise," he said understatedly. She started to rise, fists clenched, but Henry held her back. "Yes, that's precisely why I wouldn't."

"Bite me!"

 _I'm starting to think that he really wants to,_ Theo said.

"Oh, yes, I really do," Aries said, humoring him. "And hold her and kiss her and—Henry I'm joking!" he cried when Henry started to rise, fists clenched. Theo and Denise had a ball laughing at that while Aries attempted to put as much distance between him and the overprotective Lucario as possible. It suddenly occurred to him that their pointless banter/threats was their way of remaining calm while facing the impossible situation ahead of them; he started laughing, although when Denise saw that he wasn't laughing with them she stopped.

"The hell are you laughing at?"

 _I think he's going crazy,_ Theo said.

"I probably am," Aries laughed. "Hah, probably am."

* * *

With five hours of sleep backing him up, Aries felt more in control and less hysterical, although the other still seemed a bit wary around him. He led them to the Pokémon Center's lobby and went to the map of Johto. "I did a little psychic location—it's like echo location, but cooler—and discovered that Cyrus is currently in the Jubilife City area. Theophilus, I believe I can Teleport you there."

 _Believe or_ know _?_

"…I _know_ ," he said, thinking it over. It's all about mental spirit, he thought, focusing on Theo's body. "Normally, with the way psychic abilities work, I can only read superficial thoughts of yours, and even then I can only do that when you're not consciously resisting me; at this time I wish for you to temporarily drop your Dark-type's resistance so I can Teleport you."

 _I don't really understand how that works, but whatever._ He sighed as a pink aura of psychic energy surrounded him. _I'll see you guys as soon as all of this is over—believe it!_ he said before Aries sent him away.

'You can do that now?' Henry asked.

"I've been practicing. Now, Henry, Deoxys was sighted in the mountain ranges of Mt. Silver."

'Alright—beam me up, Scotty—er, Aristotle.'

Aries sent him away as well, although this time there was a small patch of fur that didn't make it through. He didn't say anything; it could've been worse, like a head or something. He sighed before leaving the Pokémon Center, mentally scanning the area for Silver. Nobody was out there crying in despair and defeat or thinking of a redheaded psychopath, so he wasn't around there.

"This is it," Denise said, walking beside him. She was wearing an old Kanto League t-shirt and black Capri pants over a pair of Miltank-skin cowboy boots.

"Should I ask?"

"There aren't any real shops here, so I had to root through the Lost 'n' Found. Anyway, there was a news report; Silver's at the Pokémon League trying to fight Lance."

"Got it." He paused, really looking at her. "After this, Denise…because we're really going to live; I'm sure of it…we're going to hang out like real…friends, alright?"

"That's an odd way of asking, but sure," she shrugged. They held each other's gaze for a long while, silence filling the air. "You're a very strange man, Aristotle," she said.

"And you are a very…unique young lady, Denise."

She suddenly grabbed his cloak, pulling it. "Why do you always wear this?"

"It's warm—I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe I'm just scared of showing people who I am."

She pulled it harder until the clasp loosened and it fell away from him. "There's not really a point in that anymore, is there?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"…No, I guess not. I have to go, but we'll meet again, alright?"

"Promise," she said. Then, "You're not taking the bus or something there, are you?"

He had to laugh. "No, that'd be silly; I'm displacing my molecules, releasing them into the air to travel, unhindered, at Mach speed—"

" _That_ sounds silly," she interrupted. "Aaaaanyway…good luck." She held out her fist; Aries bumped it with his own. It felt silly and informal, but it was the way that Denise was.

"And don't forget to rescue Professor Oak," he added.

"Of course!" she promised.

He Teleported himself this time; it was colder and less painful than the warp panel, but it still felt as strange. His surroundings spun and blurred around him until he felt nauseous, then just when he was ready to throw up they slowed, allowing him to better absorb his surroundings; as he expected, he landed on the shore of Sendoff Spring—thankfully, also, he didn't lose any body parts. (Actually, he was missing a sneaker, but that was inconsequential.) The spiritual energy of the place coursed through his body, making him feel invigorated and alive. To be honest, it was a miracle that he made it there, not only to Sinnoh but to the obscure lake, seeing that it wasn't on any conventional map, and more so miraculous that in going to a place he had never heard of in a completely foreign region he made it on the mark with no repercussions—

"Ack," he gasped, grasping his wrist; it seemed he did loose part of his stump, causing it to bleed heavily through the bandages once more. He feebly tried to staunch the bleeding with his other hand as he sat on the grass. The energy concentration was really something to admire; he hadn't felt so much in one place since he was in the Legendaries' dimension. He let his mind wander, seeing his old memories come to life in the form of faded ethereal images: him reading, Mew watching him from afar; meeting Arceus; going to the arctic; Silver; Denise; Galactic Leader Cyrus… He didn't notice he was crying until he felt his tears drip onto his hand; he wiped his face hurriedly, focusing.

A strong and biting pain surged in his missing hand, causing even more blood to spill onto the grass, staining it crimson. He became lightheaded from all of the blood he was losing, but he kept his focus, not seeing but _feeling_ the injury within his wrist. He took a deep breath and forced his cells into overdrive, feeling the intense burning sensation of exertion double from the fact that he was using it on himself. The pain of it all gave him tunnel vision and made him want to pass out; he almost did too, falling on his back, but the sight of his skin and muscle moving within the injury kept him going. Slowly but very surely, his bones stretched and increased in number, forming his hand's joints, followed by his vessels (which were actually transparent from having no blood to carry) and then red glistening muscle. Finally, his skin covered it all, pinker than he was used to but full and unmarked.

"Thank Arceus," he whispered weakly, using his other hand to grab his shirt and wipe the sweat from his face. It was the wrong time to relax, but damn it all, he needed a nap.

* * *

 _Denise!_

"Bwaha!" Denise exclaimed, falling ungracefully on her behind as Mew appeared in thin air. "Arceusdamnit, Mew, give me a heart attack why don't'cha?"

 _I apologize,_ she said unapologetically. _Where did the others go?_

"We're trying to get everybody in one fell swoop," Denise explained. "Aries is going after Silver, Henry Deoxys, Theo Cyrus, and I'm going after Giovanni; you were left with Mewtwo."

 _Mewtwo…_ Mew said thoughtfully. Then, _What is your plan for Giovanni?_

"I'm gonna storm in of course!"

 _Of course,_ Mew sighed. _Denise, that won't work and you know it._

"Yeah," she sighed. "I do, but what else? I'm no strategist; besides, we went through there with no plan already and lived, didn't we?"

 _Barely,_ she pointed out. _You don't even have any Pokémon._

"There are Pokémon inside of the HQ."

 _Denise, those are other Trainers' Pokémon that were taken by Team Rocket! You can't just use them like that!_ she said, appalled.

"Oh damn, you're right—sorry for suggesting it."

 _You're not,_ Mew said after a moment. _Denise, you care about Pokémon enough to understand why that's wrong._

"You're right, but…I'd rather not go in there and get killed; none of us should get killed doing this. I mean, we're not doing crimes," she said, turning her hands up to stare at her palms. "We're trying to help everybody, so we shouldn't get killed doing all of this…"

 _Sometimes a hero can't save their own life,_ she said, _but can save millions of others'._

"…You're right, I guess."

 _Then I'll go too, to find Mewtwo._ Mew started to move away but Denise stopped her, grabbing her paw.

"You too—don't die."

Mew smiled. _I promise I won't, Denise._

* * *

"It smells like sulfur out here," Henry muttered, covering his nose with his paws as he trudged up the rocky mountain trail. He didn't quite expect Deoxys to be waiting there for him, not unless it was some Psychic-type too, but he also didn't expect the journey to be so…boring. It was about as fun as kicking rocks…which he was doing, actually. Damn it. And damn Aries for leaving out that damn patch of fur on his behind.

*LU-LUCARIO| IS LUCARIO*

Henry spun around and saw Deoxys floating at the edge of the trail's drop-off. "Okay, so maybe you are a Psychic-type," he conceded.

*WHAT-PURPOSE-YOU?* it asked in that weird tone of voice or mind.

"My purpose? Getting rid of you, of course." Henry reached out and tried to grab its tentacle but it vanished, causing him to stumble and almost fall over the edge. He gritted his teeth and started running up the remainder of the trail until he reached the cavern at the peak. The cave was dark and was filled with the sound of water dripping from stalactites. He looked around and saw that Deoxys was at the other end scratching something into the wall.

*ADENINE| THYMINE| GUANINE| CYTOSINE| URACIL* it said as it wrote. It took a few seconds but Henry recognized the chemicals from Denise's old Biology homework (which was one of the few subjects she failed dismally for some reason) as the makeup of DNA and RNA. Actually, if he wasn't mistaken, Aries or Mew said at some point or another that Deoxys was originally a virus, so it would've been made up of ribonucleic acid.

*E-EARTH POKÉMON* it suddenly cried, turning to Henry. Its facial expression never changed but something about it felt sadder. *EARTH POKÉMON-EARTH| ARE FOR EARTH* Henry tried to rush it again but it moved, its tentacles coiling into arms and hands. It formed a Shadow Ball and launched it at him; he used Light Screen to reflect it back. Deoxys' body swelled into something sturdier and it blocked the attack with flatter tentacles.

"What about Earth Pokémon?" He tried to punch Deoxys but that form was well-suited for defense; it just pushed him away, ambling to the other end of the cavern.

*DEOXYS IS-VIRUS/BELONGS UP; NOT DOWN* it said, and Henry could really hear the confusion in its voice. *TEAM ROCKET SENT I DOWN-DOWN FOR LEGENDARY-DOWN FOR MEW| DEOXYS CONSEQUENTLY FOUND MEW; FOUND MEW IN PALLET*

He tried to make sense of what Deoxys was saying, but with its turn of phrase that was an amazing effort. "Team Rocket sent you to find Mew," he said slowly, "and you found it in Pallet?"

*SMART-LUCARIO| DEOXYS-TAKEN-FOR LEGENDARY/TO FIND LEGENDARY| SUBSEQUENTLY| DEOXYS TOLD; GET RID OF ANYBODY IN THE WAY| PEOPLE IN THE WAY| DEOXYS DO IT| IT FOR DEOXYS' FRIEND*

"Friend?"

*DEOXYS' FRIEND| THEY MADE-WITH DEOXYS' A; T; C; G; U| THAT IS DEOXYS' FRIEND| HE STILL INSIDE, STILL WITH-GIOVANNI| DEOXYS GET FRIEND IF DEOXYS GET INTRUDERS*

"Wha…" Henry was lost for a moment, so he didn't have time to react before Deoxys grabbed him, changing back to its original form. Its tentacles curled around his throat, cutting off his air supply and almost instantly forcing him into unconsciousness.

* * *

Aries felt his molecules collide as he materialized within the Pokémon League. On the left side of him, Nurse Joy dealt with a blond Trainer and his team; on the right side a bored cashier was waiting for a customer at the PokeMart.

"Okay…and Silver was with Lance, who's up there…" he muttered, turning to the large doors separating the lobby from the Elite Four rooms. He saw the guard standing there and realized that he had no Badges to enter, and he assumed that 'I'm here to kick butt' wouldn't suffice as a good reason. He was getting ready to daze the guard when the doors suddenly burst open by themselves; he jumped back to one of the bronze Pokémon statues by the entrance as the Pokémon Champion Lance marched through, speaking to the guard.

"Prepare for an attack," was all he said before returning to the inside, shutting the doors. The guard seemed surprised but quickly caught on, releasing his six Pokémon that consisted of a Nidoking, Aggron, Mawile, Banette, Girafarig, and a lone Magikarp. They formed a strong line in front of the door, but if the impending threat was who Aries thought he was, the Pokémon would be of no use.

In a second, all of them (except for the bouncing Magikarp) collapsed, the purple tinge of poison coloring their exteriors as they fell, choking, to the tiled ground. The guard gasped and began to draw a Taser before he suffered the same fate, followed by Nurse Joy and the PokeMart cashier. Aries looked around and sensed a Ghost-type in the room; immediately after, his suspicions were confirmed as a Gengar carrying a passenger. Silver was dropped in the center of the room; he was wearing his original clothes from eleven years ago and even wore his hair in the old style. Aries started to hyperventilate, the memories of long ago permeating his mind, but he managed to pull himself together and walk into the open.

"What are you doing here, Silver?" he demanded, clenching his fists. Silver slowly turned to him; he was paler and had marks under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in a while (or cried a lot, either/or), but the contempt in his eyes hadn't disappeared. Rather, he seemed more like he had eleven years ago: cruel, but still juvenile.

"I hate the weak," he said, looking towards the doors. "Pokémon, Trainers…it doesn't matter who or what; I'm going to be strong and wipe out the weak. That goes for Team Rocket too; they act big and tough in a group, but get them alone and they're weak. I hate them all. You stay out of my way; a weakling like you is only a distraction." He paused to look at Aries, smirking without humor. "You're a liability, you're a mistake; to think you'd have grown to be more than just a whining brat was just foolishness on my part. I'll correct my mistake now, here and now in the Pokémon League, and after that I'll show Lance what I really think of his damn morals."

"Cut the soliloquy of deprecation short," Aries countered. "I'm no mistake; the only mistake in here is in your little diatribe. Life is a gift, an amazing gift in fact, something meant for us to spend having fun with others, but people like you—Team Rocket, Team Galactic, et cetera—find some semblance of existence in taking away other people's Pokémon, hurting others, or going on some twisted journey of self-discovery that involves taking the lives of the Legendary Pokémon."

"You don't know me, Aristotle," he said, drawing a PokeBall in each hand. "I had to deal with a lot of crap, which led to me being as I am today. I believe I told you that."

"Having a rotten past doesn't equal a Be-A-Bastard free card; even if your childhood was as sorry as you let on, why did you let yourself become sorry too?"

"You had Mew," he whispered. "Mew is the perfect Legendary, the perfect role model; I, on the other hand, had _nobody_."

"Nobody," he repeated, appalled. Silver pushed the buttons and released his Typhlosion and Weavile.

"Nobody but a dad who cares more about his image as a _mafia boss_ than his only family—or who _used_ to be his only family." He took a deep breath and went up to the doors; Aries tried to cut him off but Silver's Pokémon blocked his way.

"I don't want to hurt you or your Pokémon, Silver," Aries warned.

"What're you saying? You're just a damn pacifist," he snorted, pushing the doors open. "Typhlosion, come on." His Typhlosion followed him inside and the doors slammed shut, leaving Aries alone with his Weavile.

'I missed you, buddy,' his Weavile grinned, clicking his claws together. 'Silver didn't let me cut you open back then, but I'm perfectly able to now!'

"I apologize in advance if this leaves any lasting marks," he said, letting his arms fall to his sides. "My psychic powers fluctuate with my emotions, you see, and—"

'Less talking!' He suddenly rushed Aries, his claws surrounded by shadows; Aries used Protect, expecting him to bounce off, but he latched onto the invisible barrier with his claws and pounded on it with one hand, trying to break it.

"Why do you obey Silver? He's cruel and abusive to both people and you all."

'Being with Silver is fun,' he answered simply, giving the barrier one last pound that broke it immediately. Aries was knocked flat on his back as the Weavile tackled his chest. 'You're a Psychic-type, so you can't hurt me~' he hummed, tapping Aries' Adam's apple with a claw. 'Where should I cut first, hmm?'


	19. 25 Just Right

The Souvenir Shop really did look like just a souvenir shop. There was an old lady at the front selling even older things and the place looked like an old Chinese restaurant and smelled like oregano. She asked the old lady if she had the entrance to a secret underground base in the building (Denise was already wanted by Team Rocket; there wasn't a point in secrecy) but the lady just looked at her with a crazy expression. She sighed and started looking again, which was when she noticed the peculiar golden cabinet. She was just about to take a closer look at it when she heard a Pokémon being released behind her.

"You're the intruder," the old lady said before pulling off her face. Denise almost had a panic attack before she realized that it was just a disguise; underneath, she was a regular Grunt. Her Gastly was floating in the air with its ghastly expression. "I'll get a promotion if I take you in! Gastly, go!" Her Gastly laughed before the head swelled and popped.

"There goes your Pokémon," Denise said. She became aware of a weird tingling feeling in her skin, then the smell of sulfur in the air. She looked at the Grunt again, who was smirking triumphantly, and realized the Gastly hadn't exploded, it just dissipated. It solidified again around her head, causing Denise to cough and choke. She became lightheaded from the Gastly's poisonous gas, then she heard the Grunt laughing before she passed out.

When she came to, she was in what looked like a magician's box; it was made of something clear, but it wasn't glass because no matter how much she punched or kicked it it didn't even crack. She pressed her hands to it and found herself staring into a rectangular concrete room full of Grunts, and at the end of it was the Team Rocket Executives and Boss Giovanni himself looking really worse for the wear. She pounded on the wall and shouted at him, but by their reactions the box was soundproofed.

"Archer, activate the output sound," Giovanni said to one of his Executives. The man nodded and took a small remote from his pocket, pressing the button; a deafening screech filled the box before it was silent again.

"Why am I in here?" she demanded as Giovanni crossed the space between them, a Marowak at his side.

"Did you not break into my HQ weeks ago, or was that my imagination?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. She gritted her teeth.

"Okay, yeah, whatever—let me out or you'll pay, Giovanni."

"Your threat is meaningless as long as you're within that," he said. "It's a specially-made containment unit that once held Deoxys, and with that sort of structural strength an eighteen-year-old human girl is nothing."

"I wouldn't say that."

"And what are you doing here unarmed? Did you forget that I have an entire team at my disposal?" he said, spreading his arms to indicate the Rocket members around him.

"Well I didn't plan on getting captured," she retorted.

"Yes, well you shouldn't have asked for the entrance to Team Rocket HQ then," one of the Executives, a redheaded female, snorted. Denise rolled her eyes.

"Where's your son, huh? Where's Silver?"

"He's no son of mine, not that that's your business."

"Wait, what?" She slammed her palms against the glass. "Let me _make_ it my business. I know Silver is a bastard—like father, like son, I guess—but he's still your son, Giovanni, your _only_ son if I'm right, and you can't mess with family like that."

"Family?" he snorted. "He was no more than a traitor to the corporation."

"Damn the corporation! What—about—the— _family_?" She punctuated each word with a punch to the glass, but as Giovanni said, it was impossible to break; she sank to the ground, exhausted, and it felt like the box or container or whatever wasn't getting any fresh oxygen.

"I tire of you," he sighed, stepping back. He nodded to Archer, who pressed a different button on the remote; suddenly the walls of the box fell away, freeing her. She lurched forward, fully intent on slamming Giovanni's head into the wall, but his Marowak moved forward, using its bone to knock her legs out from under her and cause her to hit the ground. "I will ask you some questions involving your infiltration and I expect you to answer each of them truthfully," Giovanni said.

"You bastard, why should I?" she hissed, getting to her knees. He pretended to think for a moment.

"I see that something has to be at stake for you to comply; let's say for each question you refuse to answer, _this_ can happen." He nodded at his Marowak; it swung its bone and it made contact with Denise's right arm, creating a loud crack. She fell back on her butt, feeling pain surge in her arm as the injury swelled. "Are you willing to comply now?" Giovanni asked.

"Damn you," she snapped, feeling tears prick at her eyes.

"I'll start: How did you know where to find the entry warp panel?"

"I've no damn idea," she said. His Marowak hit her again, this time her right hand, and this time she saw her fingers bend backwards as the bones cracked.

"I want an answer," he said. "Or would you rather Marowak hit your skull?"

"You could smash me into bits now; I won't rat out my friends, not for anything," she said. Giovanni pressed his lips in a thin line.

"Archer, hand me the DNA Machine," he said, holding his hand back; Archer placed a small device shaped like a PokéDex in his palm. "Now, Marowak." His Marowak nodded and swung again, hitting Denise in the nose; it broke immediately, blood spurting on her hands and the ground. While she reeled Giovanni knelt down and used a cotton swab to get some of her blood and insert it into a port on the machine. It beeped once, then twice after a while.

"The hell is that?" Denise asked, hands over her nose. Her voice came out stupidly nasal.

"Hm…" He ignored her, which just made her angrier. "I see… Denise, born and raised in Pewter City, daughter of Dennis and Deborah and has brothers Demetrius and Derrick. I wonder if you'd be more willing to talk if… Ariana," he said to the redheaded Executive, "take a few Grunts with you and go to Pewter City, 2821 West—"

"Stop!" she yelled, her anger subsiding and terror rising in her instead. Giovanni smirked, as pleased as the proverbial Persian that caught the Pichu. "Don't hurt them!"

"Now may I ask you some questions, Denise?"

"…Yes," she conceded, feeling completely beat.

* * *

I wonder if Aries is alright, Mew thought worriedly before shaking its head. No, now's not the time to worry—especially when he's most likely not worrying about me in return. Instead, it put its focus into moving faster across the ocean instead, creating waves in its wake from Extremespeed.

Although it was all for getting rid of Team Rocket, Silver, and Deoxys, Mewtwo was a different story. They regarded it with fear, which was the source of their need to get rid of it, but Mew knew that that wasn't entirely correct; Mewtwo was scary—extremely so—and was created by Team Rocket, but when it really thought about it, Mewtwo had never hurt or endangered any of them. That didn't warrant complete amnesty, but it did at least warrant another chat with its facsimile.

It watched as the Cinnabar Islands loomed into view and was struck by a powerful and strange feeling, so powerful that it nearly plummeted into the ocean that moment. It felt a strong pull from the island to itself, something it never felt before. Against its common sense, Mew decided to fly around it, circling the Gym and the Pokémon Laboratory until it found the burnt skeleton of a large home. Curious, it lowered itself and was again struck by that strange pull, this time from the manor; it flew through a shattered window and into the building.

The place was strange; it resembled a mansion, but at the same time a laboratory. Several wild Pokémon milled around and it appeared to have been ransacked by burglars more than a few times. It looked around and spotted a loose sheet of paper; picking it up psychically, it brought the sheet to its face to read. It was burned and torn, but it could still make out the words: " _July 5_ _th_ , Guyana, South America—A new Pokémon was discovered deep in the jungle." That was Mew; it remembered finding the researchers and, intrigued by the humans, lost focus and dropped its invisibility for a moment. It moved on, finding more, but the pulling sensation was growing stronger the further it went into the mansion. The strange feeling led Mew up the stairs and past rows of broken, ajar doors to a highly-dented metal one that appeared to have held in some sort of behemoth at some point. Mew sipped through a large crack between the door and doorframe and gasped.

The door had once hidden the contents of a laboratory, and not just any laboratory either; the place was full of overturned desks and broken flasks that had once held Pokémon DNA, it sensed. There were several old Fossils too, broken into crumbs from age, and even the remnants of what seemed to be Pokémon burned to a crisps. It raised its head to the ground and found something worse: cloning capsules lining the far wall of the room. There were six in total; five had fallen apart with age, tubes and monitors hanging uselessly, but the sixth was different. The sixth was shattered, ripped apart by brute force. It crept closer and placed its paws on the thick glass, checking for any sort of remaining energy; even a small amount could clear the mysterious monster's identity. It focused harder, finding nothing, and harder still, scanning the entire capsule until it knew it inside and—

 _"_ _What's wrong, Amber? What's happening?"_

Mew pulled away, shocked by the terror coursing through its body. That was… That was Mewtwo, it thought, tentatively moving closer. Then it was here that Mewtwo was created. It stared at the capsule for a few seconds before touching its paw to it once more.

 _"_ _It feels like it's time to say goodbye," the girl—Amber—said, smiling sadly as her body faded away._

 _"…_ _Goodbye?" Mewtwo repeated, perplexed. "I feel…something…" He touched his face and his paw came back sparkling with something. "What are…these…?"_

 _"_ _They're tears; you're crying."_

 _"_ _Crying?" It was crying for the first time, and it was a wonderfully sad feeling._

 _"_ _My daddy used to tell me a bedtime story," Amber said. "That when Pokémon are sad and they cry, their tears are filled with life._

 _"_ _I'm so…" Mewtwo cried, "…sad."_

 _"…_ _I have to go," Amber said, her eyes sad but still bright._

 _"_ _Why?" it pleaded._

 _"_ _I don't know," she admitted, "but it's alright. Thank you for caring about me, and don't cry, Mewtwo—you should be happy. You're alive—" it could barely hear her now; she was almost gone, "—and life is…wonderful…"_

 _"_ _Oh," it murmured as the last of her body faded away. "These tears…what good are they? Please, Amber, come back, don't go—please! AMBER?" It searched for her but couldn't find her or the other clones, then a strange calmness fell over it; its thoughts began to blur until it forgot the source of its panic and instead curled up, falling into a deep sleep of strange dreams._

Mew pulled away again, rubbing its paws together. That shed a bit more light on where Mewtwo was from and a bit on why it seemed so apathetic, but there were still some mysteries. It had to look a little harder—

"Pray tell, _what_ are you doing here?"

Mew turned around, fully expecting to see Mewtwo there, but instead there was a Charmeleon, arms crossed over his chest. It looked between him and the capsule worriedly. _I was pulled here for some reason,_ it finally said, deeming him trustworthy. _Now I know it was because of Mewtwo's presence._

"Mewtwo? I haven't heard that name in how long. Come." He led Mew to another less-damaged room full of burnt bookshelves and books, although most of them were still readable. Curiously, Mew couldn't read his mind, although it sensed he was a good guy. "I'm Leon," he said, pulling a book from the shelf and flipping it open. "I've been here since the beginning."

 _The beginning?_ It caught the book in its paws when Leon threw it over. A quick scan of the pages revealed it was a record of Team Rocket's cloning experiments.

"Yup, since back when Team Rocket started all of this. It's funny; thirty years of experimentation instantly became crap when there was just the _possibility_ of recreating the great Mew, whose DNA was still quite mysterious and perplexing."

 _It isn't really,_ it said absently, checking the records. It appeared that the Amber that Mewtwo encountered was the clone of a scientist's daughter who had passed, but that was the most it could glean on her. Then it came to the section on Mewtwo; there was plenty of medical information, but there wasn't much on what happened after Amber. _There isn't anything more recent?_

"Who would've been here to record it?" Leon spread his arms. Mew shrugged, finding no argument. "One day, Mewtwo just lost it and forced its way out of here, burning the place with its scientists and clones down to the ground; I don't know where it went after that."

But Mew knew; it went to the Arctic where it met Mew and Aries. _What else do you know about Mewtwo?_

"You're Mew; you're the original. Don't you know all of this already?" he snorted. Mew shook its head sadly; Leon's expression softened a fraction. "Well, Team Rocket made it as the perfect Pokémon from Mew—your—DNA, and it's because of the immortality in your DNA that actually made that dream plausible. Mewtwo is like you but genetically made with that sort of cruelty that only Team Rocket has—a special ingredient, so to speak. They made it to be a Grunt, a lackey, an underling, a puppet."

 _Mewtwo can't be a puppet; Mewtwo is too freelance,_ Mew said, which was true. Leon nodded in response.

"Which is why Mewtwo made its escape eleven years ago." He gestured at the ruined mansion. "Personally, I don't think he's a bad guy; he does his own thing all the time but he never stepped over the line."

 _Leon,_ Mew started, _how do you know all of this? I thought that all of the Pokémon here died._

Leon shrugged, smirking. "We did." Mew suddenly realized why it couldn't read his mind.

 _You're just a soul,_ it said, amazed. Leon's energy faded away then, leaving it alone. It sighed as it let the book hit the floor; the others probably wouldn't like it— _again_ —but it had to go through with this. It stretched its mind as far as it could go across Kanto, eventually finding its target.

 _Fancy meeting you up here, Mew,_ Mewtwo mused.

 _Mewtwo, I know everything,_ Mew said, skipping pleasantries. Mewtwo's mind was quiet for a few heartbeats.

 _Everything,_ it repeated bitterly. _That's a lot to know._

 _I also know that unlike Team Rocket, you're not intrinsically depraved. A long while ago I asked if you're the antagonist; now, I'm asking if you want to_ be _the_ pro _tagonist._

 _Interesting offer,_ Mewtwo said after a moment of deliberation. _What do I have to do?_

* * *

Aries' teleportation skills needed some work; Theo's legs hit the ground, then the rest of his body did a second later, but thankfully they came back together with no blood or anything, but he did feel his second and third claws on his left paw change places. He shook the weird psychic residue from his fur, and when he was sure his fur wasn't changing colors or anything he looked up.

"Help! Help!" a short redheaded boy cried as two Galactic Grunts worked to hold him back. Ahead, Cyrus stood with two of his Admins, hands behind his back and appearing macabre as ever.

"Be careful with him," Cyrus said as they threw him into the back of a black van. Theo growled, bristling; he started to wonder why nobody cared, but it was damn Jubilife, a city too big for anybody to care.

 _Hey, let him go!_ Theo shouted, leaping at Cyrus; his Admin stepped forward, her Golbat taking the lead.

"Golbat, use Air Cutter!"

"Got'cha!" her Golbat said to Theo, beating her wings violently to create sharp gusts of wind; Theo raised his arms but the wind knocked him backward onto his behind. She swooped in on him and, before he could react, sunk her monstrous teeth into his arm. He swatted and kicked at her, finally breaking a wing and throwing her away, but her teeth left big circular wounds that bled through his fur, and they also had the rotting smell of poison.

"What, they're sending Pokémon with no Trainers after me now?" Cyrus asked nobody in particular, taking a PokéDex out of his pocket and holding it up to Theo.

"Zoroark," the PokéDex said. "The Illusion Fox Pokémon. Stories say those who tried to catch Zoroark were trapped in an illusion and punished."

 _You hear that, you bastard?_ he yelled at Cyrus. _Anytime I want to, I can—_

The van's doors slammed shut just as Cyrus took out a PokeBall and released a Weavile. "X-Scissor," he commanded, unfazed by it all. His Weavile jumped and slashed at Theo's chest, creating dual gashes in his fur and shearing most of it away in the process. The move was supereffective, and it really didn't help that his Weavile was ultra-strong too.

"Sir, will we just leave him?" one of the Admins asked Cyrus. "He's a Unova Pokémon; he might be beneficial to us with a little brainwashing."

"…Perhaps," he decided. "Restrain him and put him in the van with the psychic."

Theo groaned as somebody pulled his arms behind his back and snapped a Macho Brace around his wrists and opened the vans doors, unceremoniously throwing him in the back and slamming them shut, putting him in darkness. He blinked to let his eyes adjust and saw the boy from earlier trembling in the corner. "He's just a damn kid," Theo muttered, struggling against the Macho Brace.

"…I'm not a kid," he said, surprising Theo. "I'm fourteen…"

Well, I'm sure I wasn't using telepathy, he thought, confused. "You could…can understand me?"

"O…of course," he said. "I could understand Pokémon since I was a little kid."

"You… Wait, Cyrus called you a psychic. That's true?" He nodded. "Then… Oh, damn. He's going to try to use you to summon Dialga and Palkia."

"What?" he exclaimed, grey eyes wide. "That's impossible!"

"Maybe not so impossible," Theo muttered, thinking of all of the so-called impossibilities that had recently happened to him. He heard the van start up and start moving. "They'll take us to Mt. Coronet; we have to get out before then."

"How? Cyrus took my Umbreon."

"I can…oof…" He pushed himself to his feet and sat down with his back to the van's cab, then he started chipping at the wall with his claws. "So, uh…what's your name again?"

"Jenson," he answered.

"Jenson, you a Trainer?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why were you in Jubilife?"

"I was visiting my parents…Arceus, I hope they're okay," he whispered, his face going white.

"For now, Jenson, you'd be better off worrying about yourself." He felt his claw go through and twisted around, pressing his eye to the hole he made. He had a small view of the driver's seat and the voices from the cab carried into the back.

"We can finally get Dialga and Palkia with this guy," the driver said; the driver also smelled like human female hormones, so Theo assumed that the driver was female.

"And Team Rocket's DNA technology, don't forget about that," the passenger said.

"Right, right; Giovanni's a bastard, but he makes good tech."

"Jeez," Theo muttered. "Jenson, you might want to hold onto something."

"What, the air?" he said sarcastically; Theo decided not to kill him for that since he was in a pretty stressful situation. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing…directly, anyway." He bent lower, angling his head down until…yeah, he could see the rearview mirror—consequently, he could see the driver's eyes. He created an illusion, nothing too special, really, but enough to—

The van jerked to the right and slammed into something, causing Theo and Jenson to fly into the wall bodily. Almost immediately the van stopped and the doors came open, revealing a red-haired Admin and a magenta-haired Admin. "I said I got this, Jupiter," the redheaded one snapped.

"And I said that I have this, Mars," she snapped back, letting a big white ugly feline Pokémon into the van. It stared at Theo with wide yellow and bloodshot eyes until it gave him a head ache.

"If you think I'm gonna fall for you, you're real mistaken," he said dryly. The feline meowed angrily and turned away.

"It's a Dark-type," Mars complained. Jupiter laughed and took a blue rag from her pocket.

"You have to always be prepared, Mars," she sneered before shoving it in Theo's face. Arms still bound, he kicked and shouted into it, but whatever it was drenched in made him fatigued and sluggish, and eventually he fell asleep.

* * *

The world slowly spun back into view—literally; Henry opened his eyes and saw that he was in a spiraling freefall down the side of Mt. Silver. His first instinct was to panic of course, but years of training kept him from doing so and he instead used Rock Smash to lodge his fist in the rocky cliff, slowing his fall until he came to a stop a few feet above a ledge full of Cacnea. He sighed in relief; they did too, for whatever reason. Now his conundrum was getting back up.

"Move!" one of the Cacnea suddenly shouted, and the whole swarm of them attacked his butt with a very explosive Pin Missile. The force (and pain) of it launched him up a few ledges and he crashed at the grassy entrance of a cave. He made sure his tail was still attached to his body before getting up and checking the cave out.

For some reason, even though there were a lot of holes that led to the outside, the interior was scalding hot; Henry was barely in there for three seconds before he was drenched in his sweat. He noticed small puddles of what looked like liquid fire on the gritty floor; he grabbed a handful of grass outside and tossed it on top of a puddle to be sure. As soon as the grass made contact the puddle burst into a bright gold and orange conflagration that didn't even leave ashes behind. He made a mental note to avoid touching them as he crept forward.

*LEGENDARY-MOKENOP| LEGENDARY POKÉMON* Deoxys said, manifesting with a pink aura near the end of the cave. Something about it seemed familiar but Henry couldn't place it immediately. It looked unaffected by the heat, and it was in a different form from before; its original one, Henry assumed, was the regular one with an oblong head, two tentacles on each shoulder, and straight orange and team skin, but this one had a sharper head, one tentacle on each shoulder, and grey legs, and he could feel the power it emitted even from across the room. *DESTROYED-MUST BE*

"The Legendary Pokémon are less destructive than you," Henry pointed out, getting into a fighting position. Deoxys cocked its head to the left side then the right.

*RAYQUAZA* it said, and if it could speak matter-of-factly it just did.

"You're a funny guy, aren't ya?" He tried attacking it with Focus Blast but it just went into that defensive form and blocked it—actually, Defense Form was probably what it was called. From what Mew said, Deoxys had multiple forms: Normal Form, Speed Form, and Defense Form. A thought occurred to him just when it shifted back: if Deoxys had all of those forms, it probably had an— He was wrung from his thoughts when Deoxys rammed into him, throwing him backward with Superpower; Henry spun around and landed on all fours, just barely dodging a fire puddle. (Or is fire puddle an oxymoron? The thought didn't occur to him.) "—Attack Form," he groaned.

Henry spun to his feet and ran up to Deoxys, dealing a punch to its face; it just batted him away and struck him with Thunder, undeterred. Henry gritted his teeth at the electricity in his body until it was over, which was when Deoxys picked him up with Psychic and slammed him against the wall. *NUISANCE* it said to him, tightening its grip until it felt like a giant fist was squeezing the life out of him.

"I—" He gritted his teeth until he was practically grinding them together, straining his muscles until they felt like they'd rip apart. "I'd laugh—at the irony—but I'm a little—preoccupied." Deoxys got within breathing space of him, looking him up and down like it could see straight through him.

*YOU CAN STILL MOVE| WHY YOU CAN STILL MOVE?* Deoxys asked, perplexed.

"Maybe I'm just that great." Henry managed to pull his left hand free, striking Deoxys with Shadow Claw; like he expected, it went back into Defense Form and moved backwards afterwards, but this time he actually left scratches in its tentacles. "Ghost-type is supereffective, so that means it's either a Ghost-type or a Psychic-type. Let me…" He struggled some more before Deoxys lost its grip and he went free, hitting the ground. Henry rushed forward and dodged Deoxys' swinging tentacles and—with Deoxys still in Defense Form—struck it in its belly with Poison Jab. Deoxys skidded backwards before catching itself at the edge of a fire puddle; when it straightened Henry could see the purplish imprints of his fist on its center.

Psychic-type, great, Henry thought, bashing his fists together. That makes this a lot easier.

Deoxys went into Speed Form, vanishing as it raced around the room; Henry could barely follow the blur of its body until it came back at him, whipping him with its tentacles and bringing him down on one knee. He tried to stand up but it came back again in the blink of an eye, nearly knocking him into a fire puddle. It's too fast, he thought, gripping his ears in frustration. Damn, if only I could sense it—if only—

Suddenly there was a different type of energy coursing through his veins. It was really weird; Henry was looking at the ground and yet he could still see the cave walls and the entrance and, hell, even the stupid Cacnea below them. He just as suddenly knew—not realized, _knew_ —that he wasn't seeing it all, but he was _seeing_ it, as cheesy as that sounded, seeing their _auras_. Granted, it wasn't as great as Mew or Deoxys' level of psychic mastery, but it was damn good enough since he could now see Deoxys' movements a lot better. He waited until it was close enough and struck it with Shadow Claw; Deoxys slowed instantly, deep scores left in its chest from his attack. Henry cracked his neck.

"Well damn, call me Johnny, 'cause you're about to get Caged."

* * *

"Hey, wake up."

"Nngh?" Theo groaned, opening his eyes; Mars' face swam into view as she smirked, pulling him to his feet by his ponytail.

"You'll miss the show, Zoroark," she said, gesturing to the scene ahead of them. He tried to clear his mind as he looked around; it seemed that they had made it to Mt. Coronet—damn it, he was out of time. Team Galactic was herded into a semicircle around Cyrus, who was holding up two orbs, one bluish and one pinkish. He was saying something too, but it was an ancient language, ancient even for Pokémon. Jenson was ahead of him, down on all fours on the gritty earth; Theo could literally smell his fear, and he was screaming too, loud and shrill. The sound of it made his heart ache.

"Mars, get over here! It's starting!" Jupiter called. Mars pranced over to her side, leaving Theo to fall on his face; he tried standing up but there was still too much poison in his veins for him to even see straight. He looked around at the temple's ruins and started to detect an odd energy that made his skin tingle; when he looked at Cyrus again, twin blue and pink lights were forming ahead of him at the center of the ruined temple. Very suddenly, Jenson's screaming ceased and he fell flat on the ground; Team Galactic went quiet too, but it was an awed sort of silence.

"Finally," Cyrus whispered. Theo watched through his blurring vision as the blue and pink lights began to form into the Dialga and Palkia from storybooks. It's over, he thought. Then he realized there was another scent in the area—a familiar scent too, one he had started to liken with death and general depression.

 _Team Rocket!_

It wasn't the entire team, but it was a good fourth of it, all led by that Executive Ariana—no Silver. "Team Galactic, you're under attack by Team Galactic!" she said to Cyrus. "For dabbling in things you have no business being in, 'specially considering what's already happened to you…"

"You lot are some people to speak about this," Cyrus retorted. "Mewtwo? Deoxys?"

"Old projects," Ariana replied.

"I hardly call eleven years ago _old_ , especially with Deoxys still remaining as a threat to us all."

"Well, okay, let me rephrase: you're under attack by orders of Team Rocket Boss Giovanni's son, Silver."

Silver, what? Theo thought. Why would he want Cyrus gone? He realized that that was sort of a dumb thought; anybody would want Cyrus gone, what with him trying to rip apart the space-time continuum and all, but Silver didn't seem like the kind of person to care until it was actually at his boots.

"Giovanni's no-good son wanted you all to stop me?" Cyrus said, laughing sarcastically. Okay, so Theo wasn't the only dubious one.

"He seems no good, okay, but he's actually a deep person," Ariana said in a way that made Theo think she wanted to mate with Silver at some point. "Rocket Grunts, get the Orbs away from Cyrus!"

"Galactic Grunts, keep them away from Dialga and Palkia!" Cyrus commanded in turn. Pokémon were summoned in hordes, moves flying back and forth and almost killing Theo in the process. He couldn't tell if Jenson was okay, but he didn't think it mattered much anyway, considering…well…

He looked up and saw that while Team Rocket and Team Galactic were messing around with each other, Dialga and Palkia were taking more form, and he was still out of it and Mew and everyone else was nowhere to be found. "Don't tell me it's really over," he muttered, covering his nose with his claws. Valentine and the pack would…

 _It never is, Theophilus._

A black portal appeared between the other two lights, twisting and swelling until it was the same size as them; red eyes appeared at the top and Theo could feel more than hear the growl it emitted. Cyrus looked at it and stepped back, scowling slightly, and the rest of Team Galactic and Team Rocket took about fifteen steps away, which was when Theo noticed Cyrus' Pokémon, a Houndoom and Honchkrow. "I should have expected you."

The darkness suddenly disappeared and something huge that kind of feels like a Pokémon is left floating there. In a second it began glowing and all of a sudden it changed into a six-legged Dragon-type with golden jaws, grey skin, and spiked black wings. On its back was—holy crap— _Mew_ , and floating next to Mew was some purple Pokémon that looked a lot like it. _I'd say it's nice seeing you again, but really, you've wasted my time years ago and now you're wasting it again,_ the Dragon-type Ghost-type Legendary Pokémon of the Distortion World and antimatter, Giratina, snorted. Theo wondered if the poison had corroded his eyesight or something.

 _Theophilus!_ Mew exclaimed, hopping off of Giratina and latching onto him in excitement. Soft fur, he thought. _I'm sorry that we couldn't travel fast enough._

 _Me too,_ he muttered. _The Legendaries are here how?_

 _Mewtwo and I worked together to accomplish that,_ it said, gesturing at its better-looking friend. Mewtwo snorted in response, and with a wave of its hand dozens of Team Galactic and Rocket Grunts and their Pokémon went flying, crashing to the ground in moaning and groaning heaps and throwing up clouds of dust.

"Mewtwo!" Ariana exclaimed, sitting up with her hair in a wild and tangled mess. Mewtwo smirked, waggling its fingers at her.

 _Nice to see you again, although you were prettier when you were asphyxiating._

"Honchkrow, Night Slash," Cyrus commanded. His Honchkrow attacked Giratina, who stumbled, apparently still weak. The other lights started to flicker and fade; Cyrus gritted his teeth, repeating his words from earlier in a louder voice. Theo could hear Dialga and Palkia's cries as the lights actually formed portals.

 _He's gonna kill himself trying to summon all these Legendaries,_ Theo said as Mew used Heal Bell, cleansing his bloodstream of poison.

 _A dead man can't die again,_ Mewtwo said, hitting the ground. It was a lot taller than Mew, about six feet, and bulkier too.

 _A dead man? What?_

 _We'll explain all of it later,_ Mew said, looking at Giratina worriedly. _For now, we have to stop Cyrus before he—_ It was cut off as Palkia's portal suddenly ripped wide across the sky like somebody clawed it or stretched it out, then Dialga's portal ripped too and they formed a cross. The center part that they both mixed at was blacked out and full of pink and blue stars. _A space-time portal,_ Mew said, awed. The Grunts all got to their feet and started running in various directions; most of the Rocket ones, apparently, were already prepared, using Flying-types to get away quicker. (Apparently, Silver was more clairvoyant than he looked.)

 _This is no time for appreciation, Mew,_ Mewtwo snapped, raising a hand and grabbing hold of Cyrus' Houndoom and Honchkrow psychically; they cried out in surprise and went quiet as it began squeezing them until they crumpled in heaps on the dirt. Cyrus turned to fully face them, alone without his Pokémon as Giratina, Mew, Mewtwo, and the almighty Theophilus stared him down.

 _Where will you run now, Cyrus?_ Giratina taunted, its jaws opening. Cyrus clenched his fists; his eyes shifted from them to the space-time portal. Mew gasped; Mewtwo rolled its eyes.

 _Cyrus—_ Mew started, but Cyrus ran forward and jumped inside anyway; apparently, he didn't learn his lesson from the first time he did it. As soon as he disappeared into the blackness a field of energy was emitted that knocked all of them backwards; Theo got a mouthful of dirt and twice as much in his fur that he just knew would be killer to get out. He was starting to get up when he suddenly felt Giratina bite down on his ponytail; a weird tingly feeling ran through him like cold chills as they became intangible and quickly sunk through Mt. Coronet.

 _Why are we running?_ he hissed, kicking and flailing in the dark and rocky interior of the mountain. As soon as they solidified at the base—him, Giratina, Mew, and Mewtwo—the entire peak of Mt. Coronet vanished. There wasn't any noise or debris or anything, but it all just disappeared.

 _There's your answer,_ Mewtwo said. There was a sudden and sharp pain in Theo's head as he hit the ground, but it quickly passed, leaving him a little dizzy and nauseous. _That's the end of Team Galactic, in any case._

 _Team Galactic…what's that?_ Theophilus asked. Mewtwo looks amused while Mew sighed.

 _They are…were…one of the prominent troublemaking groups in the Pokémon world, namely Sinnoh,_ Mew explained, _but because of Dialga and Palkia's space-time portal, they've been wiped completely out of existence. That spells peace for the Sinnoh region at least, and it ticks off one target on our list. Counting Mewtwo, that only leaves two: Giovanni and Silver._

 _You forgot to explain big guy here._ Theo gestured at Giratina, who snorted in response.

Mew fiddled with its paws. _I came to the conclusion that while Mewtwo has a very belligerent disposition and aura, despite its fear-inducing appearance—_

 _Wow, my self-respect has been so easily trampled,_ Mewtwo said.

 _—_ _it actually never posed a threat to myself or the others directly, so I instead implored its help in a different task: speeding up the revival process of the Legendaries. That requires a very fair amount of energy and willpower, which we both possess in abundance; we set aside our differences to call on the shreds of their beings remaining in this world and psychically brought them together to form solid bodies more quickly._ It gestured at Giratina. _It has only worked on a few however—Arceus, Giratina, Celebi, and Groudon—but with those burdens off of my shoulders I can be of more help now._

 _And with me we can't be stopped,_ Mewtwo said. Mew looked up at Giratina and said something in private to it; it nodded back and created a swirling black portal.

 _I will work on bringing back Dialga and Palkia,_ it said. _Good luck you all._ Giratina went inside of its portal and the portal vanished behind it.

 _Come on,_ Mew said, psychically lifting Theo up. The feel of it made him even dizzier, then he had the strange missing-limbs feeling of teleportation. When he could see again he realized that they were all in some building's basement office. Mew looked around, confused. _I was sure I felt Denise's energy here…_

Theo looked around at all of the electrical machines and saw two in particular that stuck out; they were taller than the rest and had a beam of electricity passing between their antennas. He looked closely at the left one's metal base and saw an arm sticking out from behind it; he moved over to get a better look and gasped. _Hey, Mew. Mew!_ He pulled Denise's out from behind it and set her on the ground; there were still little sparks dancing across her burnt skin and clothes, and her hair was more frizzed than normal. Mew hovered around her before landing on her stomach.

 _She has no thoughts,_ Mewtwo said. Mew pressed its paws against her chest for a long time, then it exhaled.

 _Denise isn't breathing._

* * *

 _"_ _Is that all?" Giovanni asked, writing down the last of what she told him. Denise nodded, her face buried in her hands. "You and Silver would be good together," he commented offhandedly. "Those that betray their allies."_

 _I didn't want to, she thought. But Aries is—well, Aries—and it's him against my family and—well—it was the—the right thing to do—right? She tried not to think about him, but she did; he could be detached at times, and optimistic, and mischievous, but she was certain that he would never betray her…yet… But he would've if it was Mew and the Legendaries at stake, right?_

 _…_ _Right?_

 _…_

 _They're my family…but Aries is my best friend!_

 _She lurched to her feet, using her good hand to attempt to take the papers from Giovanni's hands and tackle him to the ground; instead, two of the Grunts grabbed her arms, pulling her back and slamming her down on the ground. "What's done is done, Denise," Giovanni said, folding the paper into his blazer's pocket._

 _"_ _You filthy, conniving, blackmailing rat," Denise growled. "No wonder Silver is trash; he was rotted before he was even born."_

 _"_ _This job isn't about being_ nice _, however," Giovanni said. "In any case, you are no longer useful. Archer, take her down to the generator room."_

 _"_ _The generator room?" Archer repeated, paling a little. "The Pikachu down there are extremely powerful; just putting a human being, which is made up of mostly water, in the vicinity would cause instant—"_

 _"_ _I said—" Giovanni cut off, breaking into a serious coughing fit._

 _"_ _Karma always comes around," Denise hissed as the Grunts hoisted her to her feet. "If you hurt me—well, you already did, but hell, if you_ kill _me, Aries is gonna have your head." She actually wasn't sure how true that was, since she'd never seen Aries angry other than the thing with Mew, but she was sure he'd get some sort of revenge, and even if he wasn't that kind of person he would still have to come if Giovanni remained as Rocket Boss._

 _"_ _We'll be prepared if Aristotle comes," he said passively, waving them away. Archer led the Grunts down the corridor to a warp panel that took them down to a long hall that ended in a wooden door._

 _"_ _I know that Team Rocket steals Pokémon," Denise said to him, "but do you really want to steal lives too?"_

 _He didn't say anything, only opened the door and let the Grunts shove her in; she unceremoniously tumbled down some stairs before landing in a heap of limbs on the ground. She shook her head out and looked up just as the door shut and the wary Pikachu began sparking._


	20. 26 LEGENDARY

"You'll get cut before I do," Aries warned Silver's Weavile, who just cackled in response. He pressed down harder, earning a bead of blood from Aries' skin. "I'm warning you—"

A light appeared not too far away, followed by a surge of psychic energy that knocked the Weavile off of him and onto the ground and sheared Aries' bangs off. He sat up and caught the very interesting sight of Mewtwo and Theo together. "Where is…Mew?" he asked hesitantly.

 _Busy,_ Mewtwo said before Theo could speak. He grumbled at that, but something about his disposition was oddly worrisome. _The other one should also be arriving any—_

Henry flashed into the room also via Teleport, but unlike Mewtwo and Theo, who were a little scuffed but healthy for the most part, he was covered in dirt and soot and greenish-purple blood that obviously didn't belong to him. 'Whoa!' he exclaimed, grinning in dazed amazement, displaying that he was missing three teeth.

"Did you do it?" Aries asked, indicating his teleportation.

'You bet I did!'

 _Why are you so damn happy?_ Theo snorted.

'An interesting ally finished the job for me,' Henry explained. 'You might know it, Aries.' Aries couldn't check Henry's mind before a loud sound came from the Elite Four's room. 'We don't have time to waste!'

"Henry is right—come on!" They went inside of the Elite Four's rooms where the Elite Four and their Pokémon were unconscious, passing through each one quickly until they reached the grand doors of the Champion's room, which were open. Inside, Lance was being held up by Silver's Typhlosion while Silver was nowhere to be seen. Henry and Theo ran forward while Mewtwo grabbed Typhlosion psychically, dragging it away from Lance with no small amount of effort. Aries looked at his two KO'ed Dragonite before checking on him. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Yes," he said after a moment, nodding. On the other side of the room, Mewtwo, Henry, and Theo struggled to hold Typhlosion back as it thrashed and burned. "That Trainer… I met Silver a while ago and I was appalled by how he treated his Pokémon, therefore I sought to teach him a lesson through battle. I thought that it sunk it, but now it's obvious that the lesson hasn't. Silver's beaten me and is in the Hall of Fame now." He nodded at the doors at the other side of the room. Aries nodded and rushed over, pushing them open. As soon as he stepped inside they slammed shut behind him.

"Great; I was meaning to call someone else in to celebrate with me," Silver said from the machine. Four of his PokeBalls were set in the slots since his Typhlosion was still out there with the others and his Weavile was still in the lobby.

"You can't be Champion, Silver," Aries said, clenching his fists. "The Champion doesn't abuse and bully his way to the position. You treat your Pokémon like—like crap, turning them cruel and remorseless like yourself, and you expect vindication for that?"

"No," he said curtly. "I expect vindication for all of the crap I've had to take my entire life. All these years I've been doing what Daddy wants, working with his prized Team Rocket, training to get stronger and make others stronger so we can be the best, but what about _us_ , huh? What happened to just Dad and I?"

"Don't tell me you're _this_ bent over _daddy issues_ , Silver," he accused darkly.

"Maybe you just don't understand the issues, what with having no parents." Aries gasped a little; Silver smiled coldly. "That's right; I know a lot about you that I gleaned from the international database. You haven't had a life like mine so you can't possibly understand why it is that I do what I do, so just go back to town and cry about something else—oh wait, Pallet's gone, also because of my old man. Gee, why don't you pester him instead of me?"

Aries clenched his fists tighter, then released them with a sigh. "There's no point in speaking to you, is there?"

"Nope," he said a bit too brightly, searching his pockets. He drew out a PokeBall and pressed the button; the beam shot out and went under the door, vanishing for a few seconds before it went back to the PokeBall; Silver then placed it in the fifth slot.

"How did the return function from so far away?"

"These are Team Rocket-brand PokeBalls," he explained. "However weak they are as a team, they do make handy tech." He took out another PokeBall and pressed the button; the return was quicker that time, and he quickly slotted it with the others. The machine lit up and beeped as it scanned each of his PokeBalls, then beeped again in confirmation. The last step, Aries remembered from books on the process, was for it to scan Silver's Trainer's Card, and that would declare him the Champion of the Pokémon League Johto. He drew his Card from his wallet and was about to insert it into the slot when he froze—or rather, his hand froze. Silver looked at Aries in surprise as he held his hand in place and very carefully loosened his grip on the card, floating it over into his own hand. "And you did it again," Silver said, alluding to the miracle of eleven years ago.

"I've been practicing," Aries said, waving Silver's card. Silver took a step and a half forward before Aries froze him again midstride—at least, he was frozen from the chest-down; that was the best he could do, and it was an improvement. Silver strained his neck and shoulders but he couldn't break free.

"Okay, you got me," he finally sighed. "What now? You gonna kill me? Oh, no, you're too much of a pansy for that."

"As much as I admire your metaphorical use of a subspecies of the violet, I wouldn't hurt you at all in any event." Aries walked up to him, looking in Silver's eyes as he hadn't been able to do as a scared little six-year-old, and he put his hands on either side of Silver's face and pressed his forehead to his.

Images flooded Aries' mind, some surprisingly regular—a mother and father talking their little boy to the movies, comic books, baby Pokémon battles—and some markedly darker, and as he progressed through Silver's mental timeline the darker images turned sourer and colder with him working on several Team Rocket's genetic projects, among other more sordid ones, and snatching Pokémon from innocent wide-eyed Trainers. For the most part, Silver's actions seemed very sociopathic with his schmoozing nature and lack of a guilty conscience, but the deeper Aries searched the more he realized Silver not only regretted what he was doing but wished he didn't have to, but it was an amazingly small part of him; for the most part, Silver was still a rotten person.

"Get out," Silver finally said, his voice shaky. Aries pulled away, feeling just as wrecked as Silver looked. "You feel better about yourself for doing that?"

"Not at all," he answered honestly. "But it was you that said I don't understand, and now I do, and rather than hurting you, I want you to promise me something."

"And what's that?" he snorted.

"I want you to promise that you'll be a regular Pokémon Trainer, one that doesn't push others around and abuse people and preach about their weakness."

"That's a lot to ask."

"I'm aware, but I'm also aware that somewhere deep inside, you have the capacity for it."

"Or maybe you're putting too much faith in something that isn't there anymore." Suddenly he grabbed his Trainer's Card from Aries' hand and kicking him onto his back. "Also, you should really work on your skills." Aries groaned and tried to get up, but either Silver had a really good foot or Aries still had the joint-based repercussions of telekinesis. Silver almost swiped his card in the machine but, with awfully comic timing (not comic as in hilarious, but comic as in comic book-like, as in _just when all was lost_ ), the door slammed open. He raised his head and saw several police officers led by Officer Jenny rush into the room.

"Freeze!" she called, her Blastoise growling at Silver. "Pokémon Trainer Silver, you are under arrest for association with Team Rocket, multiple acts of cruelty against fellow Trainers and Pokémon Champion Lance, and general crimes against the system!"

Silver raised his hands, snorting. "You called the police?"

"Calling the police warrants that I have some sort of communication device which, as you can see, I don't, and even if I did have one I couldn't grab it now." He sat up with difficulty, using his hands to push himself to his feet. "The fact is that even if you get away now, Silver, you'll have the rest of the police force looking for you, and I believe not even you are cunning enough to avoid that."

"Then you obviously underestimate my drive." He wiggled his left hand and a small remote control device poked out of his sleeve. Before anybody could react he pushed the button, causing all of his PokeBalls to beep and release his team simultaneously. Granted, there were still twelve police officers in the room, but Silver's team was like an army; he could take them too easily in that event, but he also still had Mewtwo and Henry to face in Lance's room, and Aries be damned if they weren't decent threats on their own. Suddenly, Silver's left pocket blared an instrumental version of some irritating song that featured a video of a Pikachu with a breakfast pastry for a body spewing a rainbow trail.

"Don't move," Jenny said when Silver started reaching for his pocket.

"It's just my Xtransceiver," he said innocently, drawing it out and putting the device to his ear. "Hi, this isn't the best time whoever you are…what? You're kidding. You're kidding. Archer, I swear if you're kidding— You're serious. And…why do you sound so despondent?" Aries couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but whatever was said had Silver looking more shocked than Aries thought a person could look shocked. He ended the call and threw the Xtransceiver at his Typhlosion, who incinerated it in a second. "Damn it," he muttered, throwing his arm across his eyes. "Gengar, please."

'Silver…' his Gengar said, and for all of the crap Silver put his Pokémon through, he sounded legitimately worried for his Trainer. The whole lot of them turned invisible just as Jenny's Blastoise loosed a powerful Hydro Pump, only succeeding in drenching the machine, and they all passed through the floor and disappeared.

"You all, spread out in the lobby and the entrance," she commanded her crew, who nodded and went back the way they came. Meanwhile, she approached Aries.

"I'm Officer Jenny of the Johto Police Force. Who are you and what relation do you have with Pokémon Trainer Silver?"

"My name…" Aries sighed, rubbing his neck with both hands. His body ached, his brain ached, he was tired, and he wanted nothing more than to eat and sleep for forever and then some. "My name is Aristotle, Officer Jenny, and Silver is only a part of the real problem here. Let me explain."

* * *

"Where have you two been?" Aries asked as he walked out of the police station in Lilycove City, finding Henry and Theophilus sitting on a stone bench parallel to the street.

'Mewtwo and I made an escape as soon as the police showed,' Henry shrugged. 'It did that, I don't know, lack-of-flashy thing and I used Dig; we met up again in Victory Road and it said that it had much _much_ more interesting things to do than to hang around people like us, whatever that means, and left. After that, I went to the Pokémon Center and they held me up for a few hours until I could hike back to the city and take a bus here.'

"They let you ride a bus?"

'Of course; my pass from Pewter is valid everywhere.' He produced a bus pass from somewhere in his fur and waved it around; Aries decided to drop the matter for the time being.

"And you, Theo?"

 _Um… I'd rather not explain,_ he said, atypically bashful. _But I made some interesting new friends._

Aries joined them on the bench with a sigh. 'What did they ask you?' Henry asked. 'Or rather, what did you tell them?'

"A lot. Not everything, but enough to point them in the direction of Team Rocket and Team Galactic; also, the stories surrounding them are interesting, to say the least. Team Galactic seems to have been wiped from everybody's memory."

 _Mew mentioned that,_ Theo said. _I don't remember 'em, but there was this big battle on Mt. Coronet, right? and Dialga and Palkia almost showed up but_ Giratina _showed up instead and totally_ wrecked _the place, and then Mew said that the cross of Dialga and Palkia's powers made a space-time portal that completely wiped them from existence…or so it said._

"Also, I heard that today, Giovanni was found dead."

'Then…Denise…' Henry sounded traumatized. Aries shook his head.

"He died of disease, Henry." Henry let out a huge breath of relief. "And without a Boss, Team Rocket has disbanded. Now, it is disconcerting that the Executives and Grunts are now roaming free, but by themselves they're no threat."

'What about the, uh, experiments?'

"Found and taken in for containment. It very much seems that the most of this is over."

 _All's well that ends well, eh?_ Theo said, yawning. _I wanna nap._

'Hey,' Henry said suddenly, raising his head. 'Where's Mew and Denise?'

"I've been wondering that as well," Aries said. He noticed Theophilus picking at his nonexistent split ends. "Theophilus, do you have any idea—"

 _I don't want to be the one to tell you,_ he said worriedly. _I'm not good at this kind of stuff._

"What kind of stuff?"

'Theophilus, where are they?' Henry pressed, getting to his feet. 'Tell me right now.'

 _Okay, okay!_ He got to his feet too, throwing his hands in the air before letting them fall back to his sides. Around them, the people of the city rushed by under the blue blue sky, some hurrying to work and others hurrying to the Gym in search of their next Badge. The air smelled like hotdogs and cheeseburgers from the vendors next to the station and Pokémon ran down the streets when no cars were driving by, playing around and having a fun time in the occasional patch of grass. _After Team Galactic, Mew, Mewtwo and I went to Team Rocket's HQ, right? Mew said it could sense Denise or something like that, and we found her, and it looked like she'd been jumped or attacked beforehand; she had some broken bones and a broken nose…probably torture…_

"And?" Aries asked when he paused. Theo sighed. "Theophilus, I _will_ look through your mind."

'And I'll beat it out of you,' Henry threatened.

 _She wasn't breathing, alright? Mew tried a lot of stuff but she just wouldn't…_

Henry fell silent, shocked; Aries was quiet too, but only because he didn't know what to say. "Where are they now?"

 _Mt. Coronet. I'm not sure what Mew is trying to do exactly—_

"But I think I do," he said slowly. "Henry, Theo, do you trust me?"

 _To some extent._ Henry hesitated, then nodded.

Aries grabbed each of their shoulders and focused, pulling the three of them through the teleportation loop. With their combined mass it was iffy, but they managed to reach the sheared-off peak, albeit with an upside-down landing that nearly broke their necks (except for Theophilus, who had the feline ability to land on his feet). When Aries sat up he immediately saw Mew hovering in the air just above Denise's prone body; she looked fine and could've just been sleeping—if her clothes weren't burnt and shredded like she was struck by lightning and her chest wasn't so still. Henry was the first one over there, grabbing her hand and speaking too fast for Aries to understand. Mew turned to meet his eyes; he felt a strong tangle of emotions but swallowed them down for the moment.

 _You're betting a lot on a miracle, Mew,_ he said, walking forward.

 _Our lives have been nothing but miracles, however,_ it replied, looking at the sky. _Where is Mewtwo?_

 _Terrorizing some poor people elsewhere? I don't know._

 _This would be easier with its psychic aid,_ it lamented. Aries hesitated.

 _…_ _I can help._ Mew turned to him.

 _You would, even after…?_

 _It wasn't your fault,_ he said halfheartedly. _And that's not the point; it's because of us that she was involved in the first place, and now we have to fix what we've done, right?_

 _You've matured very much, Aries,_ it said. He sighed, looking up.

 _Let's hope that we actually get a miracle._

There wasn't a miracle to be seen for a long while, even with Mew and Aries sending out psychic signals like fireworks, just Henry crying quietly and Theo looking disconcerted by Henry's crying and Denise's dead-ness. He looked over at Mew, who was becoming more distraught by the nanosecond, and back at Denise, and all of a sudden he was captured in the throes of riotous laughter. Henry looked at him, sniffling and angry, and Theo looked like he wanted to laugh at Aries' laugh if the situation wasn't so generally sick. Mew touched his shoulder in concern, causing him to completely double over as he cracked up.

'What's so funny?' Henry finally asked, his voice husky. Aries hit the ground hard on his behind, stretching his legs out before him and gripping his knees for support.

"I…I'm sorry; I really am," he chuckled, pressing the butts of his palms to his temples. "It's just… I just… I'm going crazy, alright? I really am. Can't take any more of this crap."

'That's the most human thing I've ever heard you said,' Henry sighed, rubbing his nose with his paws.

"Denise rubbed off on me. Oh, how I will miss her abrasive nature, her constant threats, her iron fist."

 _It's not nice to speak ill of the dead,_ Theo said.

"Oh, I'm being very candid," Aries assured him. "The hilarity only stemmed from the fact that Denise was and is the only person in the world to _really_ like me and look where it good her—look where it got-freaking-her: a good spot in the dirt six feet under when she should be at home in Pewter with her brothers and parents, complaining about selling Fossils instead of _becoming one_ —" He had to stop as his voice regressed into an incomprehensible sob; he covered his face with his hands, feeling hot tears slip through his fingers even so. He felt a paw rest on his shoulder.

 _Aries,_ Mew said softly, and he could feel its fur rubbing against the side of his neck.

"'m sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't be…I'm a psychic…"

 _But you're also a human boy; I should have always kept that in mind. Whatever the case, there aren't any threats left, so just cry, Aristotle._

He tried, but there wasn't much besides the first few tears. He sighed into his palms, feeling his eyes burn and ache. _Aries,_ Mew said urgently.

"I'm fine—"

 _Just raise your damn head, moron!_ Theo shouted. He dropped his hands and turned around, feeling his jaw unhinge; an iridescent staircase was suddenly in the center of the rocky ground, rising high into the sky until it disappeared into the clouds. Aries exchanged a look with everyone else; they were just as shell-shocked, if not more.

'Miracles do happen,' Henry finally said.

"Indeed," Aries agreed. "Mew, can you—" Wordlessly, Mew levitated Denise's body with them. Aries walked up the first two steps experimentally; they were clear as if glass, but they didn't make a sound at his weight, which had to be the greatest of all of theirs considering he was the only human using the steps. "Well, let's not keep the man—or stallion—upstairs waiting." Nobody appreciated his pun as much as he did, but it didn't matter; at least he wasn't being hysteric anymore.

Aries was leading the line, then Theo, then Henry with Mew and Denise. The journey was long and very quiet save for the wind and occasional passing bird Pokémon, who seemed surprised and weren't all friendly, leaving beak marks in Aries' skin. As they travelled for who-knows-how-long the ground below them became smaller and smaller until the mountain looked like a mud puddle; the sight made Aries, who had been a strong acrophobic since childhood, tremble and start stumbling on the steps.

 _Hey!_ Theophilus exclaimed when Aries fell, catching him before he sent all of them back down the hard way.

"Sorry," Aries said breathlessly, straightening up. Although they were high in the sky, he was the only breathless one, and he was the only one that was almost hyperventilating.

 _We're almost there,_ Mew said. _Just don't look down._

"Why in hell would you say that!?" he exclaimed, terrified and frustrated. "That just makes me look down!" Thankfully, nobody replied to that; he had a feeling they'd be sarcastic and pretty much no help.

Finally, they came to the peak that disappeared into the clouds. Being the first one in their line, Aries was the first to walk through, and the feeling was just as peculiar as teleportation; it was as if he stepped into the ocean and came out on the other side in some sort of mirror world, a feeling that was intensified by the clouds' water vapor now soaking through his clothes. He looked around and realized he was back in the Legendaries' space, the one that looked like outer space but was brimming with natural energy. He walked forward, savoring the feeling of solid "ground" beneath his feet, and heard the others move in behind him.

 _That was a good shower,_ Theophilus commented, and Aries was unsure if he was being sarcastic or not.

'This is…?' Henry asked, confused.

 _The dimension of the Legendaries,_ Mew supplied, easing Denise into it. _Or rather, one in particular._

'One in particu…?'

A little white line shone just in front of them, sort of like the Northern Star but more concentrated. Slowly, it grew a shape, getting larger and larger until it towered over all of them. Golden eyes set in grey sclera regarded them, followed by a voice Aries remembered all too well. _It's been much too long,_ _Mew, Aristotle,_ Arceus said, its golden hooves clicking as they hit the ground. Tears formed in Mew's large eyes as it flew in rapid circles around Arceus' legs.

 _Arceus—am I glad—to see you—alive!_ Its voice oscillated with its speed until it finally came to a stop at its head, hugging it. The scene made Aries want to laugh again; Mew was just so tiny compared to the Alpha Pokémon. It hummed thankfully before politely asking Mew to release it. (Hell, it was a helluva lot more polite than eleven years ago.) Mew did so a bit shamefully, returning to the others' side.

 _I've heard your call,_ Arceus said. _Or rather, all of us had._ As it spoke, several more lights of different colors formed in a circle around them, all taking shape with various noises until surrounding them were all existing Legendary Pokémon. Aries gasped; he had never seen so many in one place. Henry looked like he might have a coronary; Theo just seemed amused for whatever reason. _Aristotle,_ it suddenly boomed, causing him to flinch, _what you have done years ago—leading Pokémon Trainer Silver to us—is unthinkable and unforgivable._

He was glad he didn't have any tears left to make an idiot of himself. "I know—"

 _But you have also spent all of your time trying to right your wrongs, for which I and the rest of us Legendary Pokémon are grateful for._ The others muttered their thanks—as much as Pokémon could mutter, anyway. _And the cost hasn't been small, I see,_ it added, glancing at Denise.

 _I know,_ Mew said sadly. _It's our fault that she was involved in the first place, so can't you do anything for you?_

 _Even I can't revive a lost soul; you know that, Mew,_ Arceus said.

'But do _something_ , damn it!' Henry shouted at him; Aries pushed him back with his hand.

"Henry, this isn't the sort of Pokémon you want to be losing your temper with—"

'I don't give a damn! Maybe you don't understand because you—don't— _feel_!'

 _…_ _Henry,_ Mew said, touching his paw. _Please, calm down._

'A…Alright. I apologize for shouting at you, Arceus." Arceus nodded in acceptance. 'Aries, too. I didn't mean it, but it's true.'

"Henry… I wish it was true," Aries admitted quietly. "Affection is a hard thing for me to convey, even now; I care for her—I care for all of you, in fact, and losing one of you would corrode my insides." He turned to Arceus. "Arceus, please, can't you do _anything_ to help us? I know that I've made mistakes in the past, but Denise has done nothing wrong—she's tried to help us all, in fact, so if there is anything possible to bring her back, I'll do it; even if it's my life for hers, I'll do it!"

 _I can perhaps help,_ Dialga said. _With Palkia's help, we can adjust space and time; we can revert things to a period before her passing, but also with Team Rocket and Team Galactic gone._

'Great!' Henry exclaimed, smiling in relief.

 _However, doing so will also require memory adjustment,_ it said, looking at Sinnoh's lake trio, who looked at each other.

 _That should be easy, yes?_ Mew prompted.

 _Well, yes,_ Azelf said. _In itself…yes._

 _If time is reversed in this way, it will have to be to the point of Aristotle's entry in Pewter City,_ Uxie continued. _However, for this to work, the past will have to be altered as well as the present._

'Meaning…?'

 _Aries would never have met Denise,_ Latias said. _Consequently, Aries and Denise would not have met Theophilus,_ Latios continued.

 _So we won't remember each other?_ Theo asked, although it was all pretty clear-cut. Arceus nodded in response; Aries stepped forward, appalled.

"It can't end that way! All the things we've endured, all that we've done together…" He thought of meeting Denise, of Cyrus finding them, of taking Theophilus to the Pokémon Center, of encountering Silver again; he thought of how he made more friends in those past few weeks than he ever thought he would've, and of how it put an incomprehensible amount of pain on his heart and soul to think that he never would have met any of them. "Arceus, please!" he pleaded, but the Alpha Pokémon had nothing to say; what could he have said anyway? There was nothing _to_ say at that point.

 _Aries, there's nothing else that can be done,_ Mew said quietly, and even its voice was trembling.

"I won't accept that, damn it! You're Arceus, aren't you, the greatest Pokémon? The best most powerful Pokémon that can do anything? Why can't you do this one thing; shouldn't it be _easy_ for you?" He noticed that his hands were shaking and raised them to his temples, which gave him awareness to the noise building in his skull. "You just have to be able to do this… I don't believe that you're helpless, not now; it has to be a grudge, it has to be—"

 _Aries._ 'Aries.' Suddenly all three of them were saying his name, and when he looked back they all appeared worried—for him. For _him_ , of all people. Well, it figured; he was the one that was supposed to be in control of himself, not freaking out against Arceus—especially since it was damn _Arceus_ —but didn't they care about their friendship? Or maybe…he was just being selfish. And an idiot. A selfish idiot, that was it.

 _"_ _W-what do you need?"_

 _"_ _I almost forgot. A bit hard to remember with such a pretty girl."_

 _…_

 _"_ _Never do that again."_

 _"_ _Save your life?"_

 _…_

 _"_ _After this, Denise…because we're really going to live; I'm sure of it…we're going to hang out like real…friends, alright?"_

 _"_ _That's an odd way of asking, but sure."_

 _"_ _You're a very strange man, Aristotle."_

 _"_ _And you are a very…unique young lady, Denise."_

He forgot to mention she was unique in a…good way. Very good way. Really, he was an idiot.

'I mean, it's all still good, right?' Henry said. 'Team Rocket and Team Galactic will still be gone, so everybody will be safe; to think of ourselves would be a little selfish after all of that, wouldn't it?'

 _Fair point well made,_ Mew agreed quietly. Theo chuckled humorlessly.

 _Before, all I wanted to do was forget the rest of you,_ he said, _but now…I'm sad to know that I'm going to, alright?_

"Aw," Aries grinned, throwing his arms around Theophilus. He growled and bristled but didn't push him away, which was when Henry and Mew joined in the fun, hugging each other. Although nobody spoke or thought, it was clear that the joke of a group hug actually meant a great deal to all of them. When they pulled away Aries turned his attention to Denise, lying on the ground of space; she was very pretty when she wasn't scowling, heavily contrasting her tomboyish attitude. He put his hands on either side of her face and pressed his forehead to hers, although this time there were no thoughts for him to hear.

'Aries,' Henry said, clearing his throat, but his thoughts were more like _I'll kill you, you damn necrophilia bastard._ Arceus was looking at them questioningly.

 _Do you all accept this clause?_

"Yes, I believe we do," Aries smiled. "But can I ask a single favor of you, dear Alpha Pokémon?" Arceus was unamused but listened just the same to Aries' private thought.

 _That is doable, but it is a disappointment to all of us,_ it said. _You could be a valuable asset as such a strong Legendary._

"Well, I'm not a Legendary," he said. "I'm a human, and it's time I act like it. Now, please."

Arceus nodded at Dialga and Palkia, who glowed blue and pink respectively as they roared. Denise was the first to vanish a la Mewtwo style—no smoke or flashing lights, just disappearing—followed by Henry, then Theo with a sad wave. Mew and Aries looked at each other and hugged.

"I shan't ever forget you, Mew," Aries murmured. "The _real_ , caring you."

 _And I you, Aristotle,_ she murmured back before taking her place with the other Legendary Pokémon. Aries smiled sadly before he, too, disappeared.


	21. 3 Epilogue

There really wasn't very much to be said of Pewter City besides the obvious—brown, rocky, and oh-so-what's the word? Oh, yeah. Oh-so-freaking-primal.

Denise thought this as she slumped over the polished glass counter of her store. She believed that a Fossil store in the archeology center of Kanto (STONE.Z, a name of her little brother's creation and not her own, otherwise it would've been a lot smarter) would bring plenty of business and allow her to break away from the family profession and travel around as a Trainer as she wanted (Trainers' expenses were quite amazing, she realized; those guys on T.V. made it seem so easy it was unbelievable) but business was so slow day-by-day that she doubted she'd make it out of there before her thirtieth birthday.

"Cari, Lucario," Henry said, pushing through the glass doors with a cardboard box balanced on his shoulder. Denise smiled at him, brushing a loose lock of dark hair from her eyes.

"Thanks Henry; is that the new shipment of Claw Fossils?"

"Lu," he nodded. She pointed to indicate a spot near the door; he set it down gently, immediately returning to her side after. She scratched behind his ear, remembering how he loved the gesture since he was a Riolu. He sighed and pushed his head into her palm.

"When are we gonna get out of here?" she murmured sadly. As if on cue, he barked as one of the daily passersby on the sidewalk approached the doors. "What is it? A customer?"

"Nope, just me," Dee said, grinning as he sauntered in. "Brother dear is here."

"You're just as cheesy as ever, Demetrius," she replied, resting her elbows on the countertop. She noticed he was wearing his PokeBall belt and scowled. "Why're you wearing that crap? I think Dad was drunk when he sewed it for you; it's all crooked and patchy and has more stitches than Frankenstein."

"I dunno; it just felt right, y'know?"

"No, I _don't_ know; it's trashy."

"Luca," Henry agreed. Dee scoffed.

"Just wait until Dad makes you your own, then we'll both have something to laugh at huh?"

"I have your haircut from two years ago to laugh at, so I'm straight." His cheeks burned crimson.

"Anyway, how's business?" he asked, slyly changing the subject.

"Not any better than yesterday—or the day before—or the day before—or the century before," Denise said matter-of-factly. "I don't even know how we can afford all of these Fossils; we have to be spending more than we're making here."

"I don't know; Pokémon logic? Anyway, Derr and I are out to Brock's Gym; there's a new challenger there. You comin'?"

"Yeah sure, just let me lock up first. Meet you there?"

Dee saluted her before leaving. She stocked the shelves with the Claw Fossils before leaving, locking the door behind her. She turned to the street and suddenly had a strange feeling in the bottom of her stomach like something was supposed to happen. She felt Henry shove her from behind and heard a crash; when she looked over Henry was holding a steel girder up. The construction worker and his Hitmonlee above them waved apologetically as he tossed it aside.

"Lucario," he reprimanded.

"I'm sorry Henry, I just thought…I don't know, I'm sorry." She felt a sudden wind pass through, slapping a newspaper in her face; she snatched it off angrily and saw the headlines. "Hey, look, Team Rocket's disbanded after their leader died."

"Lu?" Henry said, confused as he took it from her and read the article over. She sighed, looking up.

"Today's just a really weird day, don't you think?"

* * *

Giovanni's funeral was just as one would expect for a mafia leader: poorly-attended and wealthy-looking. His tombstone was shaped like a large 'R' and it was engraved with the words he left in his will: 'Silver, if you are reading this, then I'm sorry for everything.'

Silver _was_ reading it, and frankly Silver couldn't believe the crap, but nonetheless Silver had to hide behind a Berry tree as he cried.

He waited until all two of the other people were gone before he stepped out, wiping his eyes with the handkerchief in his blazer's pocket. He looked at his dad's grave with a sigh, wondering if Giovanni was looking up at him from Hell at that moment; if he was, he was probably slitting his throat at the sight of his son bawling his eyes out.

 _That's a morbid thought to have about your own father,_ Mewtwo said, _stepping out from behind the gravestone._

"How long have you been there?"

 _Long enough,_ it said flippantly. _I heard the will. He gave you everything; shouldn't you be happy?_

"I also gave it all up, remember?" Silver said, referring to the mass message he gave Team Rocket after he was delegated Boss. It was pretty short and sweet: 'YOU'RE ALL FIRED.' After that, the Souvenir Shop was cut off by the police, so… Maybe they did reform or something, but if they did he was done with them. "Including you, Mewtwo."

 _Even me, the one you created?_

"Yes, even you. I'm leaving all of it behind today." He turned away, hands in his pockets, and started trudging across the dirt of the graveyard. Mewtwo gasped a little; Silver assumed that he spotted the box of his PokeBalls that he left in place of flowers. "Those Pokémon that he, Team Rocket Boss Giovanni, gave me? I'm giving them back. Only the one given to me by my father," he held up Typhlosion's PokeBall, "remains with me. I'm going to make my own team, and henceforth I'm going to walk the straight and narrow path to the Pokémon League."

 _Hah!_ Mewtwo snorted. _People like us don't walk the straight and narrow without falling off the edge, Silver._

"Well," Silver said, "if I fall off along the way, at least I know I deserve it."

 _—_ _Wait!_ It grabbed his arm psychically, forcing him to turn around. Silver stared at him before laughing.

"It's not fun on the dark side when you're alone, is it, Mewtwo?"

 _Sh…Shut up, Silver,_ it snapped, releasing him. He looked to the sky, the blue blue sky, and sighed.

"I remember long ago, I once came home crying to Dad. I'd asked my teacher if I could get a starter and she said no; I was six at the time and the age to go on a journey is ten, which seemed a lifetime away. If it was Mom…if it was her…she would've held me and comforted me; instead, it was the first time Giovanni hit me, and he berated me for acting like a baby. I don't know if he felt bad about it or what, but it was the day he gave me my Cyndaquil too.

"All of my life I'd done everything he wanted me to do; I thought that that'd make me a better son in his eyes, but in reality all that made me was a better shadow of him. I rarely even had my own name anymore; being in the papers or on T.V. I was just 'Team Rocket Boss' son'! I was just Giovanni's son, not even Silver anymore, and that was the last straw for me. I was…stupid, I'll admit that; I believed that the Legendaries were my ticket out of anonymity. It seemed easy enough; it was just a matter of getting to their dimension, so secretly I had several Tech Grunts work on finding one of the many portals around Kanto, but instead…we found Aristotle."

 _And why is it you only just have a sense of remorse?_

"I always did have remorse, I just thought it was annoying," he retorted. "But now, I think that maybe it's not a pansy thing."

 _Not to be selfish then, but what's to become of me?_ Silver shrugged.

"Whatever you want, Mewtwo; I mean, you're basically a Legendary Pokémon too, so you should be with the other Legendaries, am I right?"

 _I don't really belong with those guys,_ Mewtwo said. _They were created from wishes of hope; I was created to destroy._

"Just because you were taught to destroy doesn't mean you were made to destroy," Silver pointed out, causing Mewtwo to grow silent. "I have one last request of you as your master, Mewtwo."

 _Yes, sir?_ it said obediently as per habit. Smirking, Silver drew a PokeBall from his blazer, expanding it and holding it out with his finger on the button. Mewtwo caught on very quickly and, for the first time ever, genuinely smiled. _Don't I get the dignity of an Ultra Ball?_ Silver shook his head. _I don't have to do this, you know; you asked me as a master, which you're not anymore._

"Yes, but I can be something else…a friend."

Mewtwo crossed its arms over his chest and turned away; frowning, Silver put away the PokeBall. _I will not insult my integrity by going into eternal servitude under you, Pokémon Passerby Silver._

"I assumed as much."

 _However,_ he continued, _should you be on the precipice of life and death, call me so I can witness it._

"So, in other words, if I'm ever in trouble, call you?"

 _Way to put it mildly._

"Alright, alright, I got it, and I promise that this will be my last ever request for you—I'm beseeching you, if it makes it better." Silver held out his empty hand, fingers splayed; Mewtwo sniffed, indignant, and grabbed it. "To protect the world from devastation."

 _Arceus, not that again._

"To protect—the world—from devastation!"

 _To…unite all peoples within our nation,_ it sighed.

"To renounce the evils of truth and love!"

 _To extend our reach to the stars above._

"Silver," Silver grinned.

 _Mewtwo,_ it said as if it all physically hurt.

"Team Rocket…blast off at the speed…of light," he whispered, staring at Giovanni's grave again. He didn't have tears left for him, but he did have memories—boy, did he have memories—enough to make him forget that Giovanni was a bastard of a father and remember that he was one hell of an old man a long, long time ago. Mewtwo released his hand, his eyes glowing brightly.

 _Stay alive with all of your might,_ it ordered before it vanished for the last time.

* * *

"Onix, use Iron Tail!"

Brock's Onix slammed his tail down on the opposing Trainer's Wartortle, who popped into her shell at the last second to soften the blow. As soon as Onix pulled away Wartortle used Rapid Spin, whirling around to slam into Onix's base; unsteadied, he trembled before falling and hitting the ground with a heavy thud that made everyone on the bleachers jump.

"Onix, get up!" Brock called. His Onix struggled to rise but the other guy's Wartortle was a lot faster.

"Bubblebeam, please." She spat a stream of bubbles in Onix's face that looked too flimsy to really do anything but left marks in his tough stone exterior. "Water Pulse now." She put her hands together and summoned dual rings of water that surrounded her body, then released them in small waves that crashed against Onix with amazing force. Onix rocked from side to side for a moment before going completely still.

"Onix is unable to continue; the winner is Wartortle!" Bill announced. Brock returned his Pokémon, smirking.

"You're quite strong," he said, switching PokeBalls. "Geodude, let's do it!" His Geodude appeared in the center of the field, face-to-face with Wartortle. "Rollout!"

"Geo!" his Geodude chanted, tucking in his arms and going into a rapid spin like a bowling ball; Wartortle couldn't avoid the first hit, spinning out until she landed on her shell still whirling around.

"Wartortle, please hang on!" her Trainer called. "Use Water Gun to blast yourself in the air!"

She rolled to her feet and did it, launching herself out of Geodude's reach, but to their surprise he used a diagonal rock like a ramp to roll into the air and slam into her unprotected head; she hit the ground shell-first, still spinning weakly. Seconds passed but she didn't get up. "Wartortle is unable to continue; the winner is Geodude!" Bill called. The Trainer returned her and swapped PokeBalls, releasing an elegant Dragonair instead.

"He has a Dragon-type at the first Gym?" Derrick asked, perplexed.

"Those are really rare," Denise said, gripping her jean-covered knees as she leaned forward.

"Luca," Henry agreed.

"He's good too," Dee added. "Maybe he was a Trainer for a while and is just entering the Pokémon League?"

"Maybe," she said thoughtfully.

"Geodude, use Rollout again!" Brock commanded. His Geodude went into position and immediately worked on clearing the distance between himself and the Trainer's Dragonair.

"Nymph," he said. Denise was struck by the name; it was really pretty, fitting for a Dragonair. "Please use Aqua Tail for me."

His Dragonair's tail was surrounded by water, and as Geodude grew close she swung it like a bat, slamming it into Geodude's face. He rolled backwards before catching himself with his hands, stilling. "Use Earthquake!" Brock shouted. His Geodude grunted as he leaned forward and slammed his fists against the ground repeatedly, causing it to tremble and shake. The other Trainer comically lost his balance and fell on his behind, causing Denise and Derrick to break out laughing and him to turn red in embarrassment. A fissure broke out in the ground right beneath Nymph, causing her to drop in. The Trainer wasn't disconcerted; in fact, he seemed sly. Denise rolled her eyes.

"Surf," he said, pointing at the fissure. Water suddenly started pouring out of the fissure, a whole lot of it, and then suddenly it gushed out with so much force it shot straight up and was repelled by the ceiling, arcing at an angle to strike Geodude directly. Denise stopped mid-eye roll and saw him get blasted into the base of the bleachers by the sheer force of it, and when the last of the water was absorbed into the dirt he hit the ground uselessly.

"Geodude is unable to continue; the winner of the battle is Dragonair," Bill said as Nymph slunk out of the hole to the Trainer's side. "The winner of the Boulder Badge is…this guy."

Brock returned his Geodude as the Trainer returned Nymph; Brock approached the Trainer and dropped the shiny Badge in his waiting palm. "Great job, really," Brock praised, shaking his free hand.

"Thank you," he replied.

"Where did you get your Pokémon?"

"A…friend," he said after a moment of hesitation. "A special one."

"Well, good luck to you in the rest of the Pokémon League." They parted ways then, with the Trainer heading for the door. Denise followed him with her eyes until Dee jabbed her side with his elbow.

"Is this a new crush I see blossoming?" he joked, slapping hands with Derrick as they laughed.

"At least I can get guys, Dee," she snapped. "Your last girlfriend had to be fed, walked, and neutered." She slapped hands with Derrick when he completely cracked up at that while Dee sulked. She laughed with him until another strange feeling struck her, something very close to what she felt earlier.

"Are you okay?" Dee asked. She shook her head to clear it, standing and climbing down the bleachers.

"I'm gonna go talk to Mom and Dad."

* * *

Zoroark packs rarely moved from a hiding place, only doing so if either the protecting illusion failed or their location was compromised—in Theophilus' case, it had been compromised…by him.

He dropped down onto all fours, inhaling the scents of their old cave; it smelled like familiarity—well, what used to be familiar to him, before he got kicked out and everything. He smelled fun times with Valentine back in the day and the scent of Xavier, the oldest and wisest Zoroark in the pack…actually, his scent was real familiar for some reason…

 _"_ _I don't have a name," the Zorua said, crouching down and trying to hide behind his fluffy neck fur. Xavier was old enough that he had two other Zoroark around him at all times and his red fur was silvery-white; Theo remembered it very vividly. "My Trainer, she just…called us by species…"_

 _"_ _By species," Xavier repeated in his tired voice, touching the Zorua's head gently between his ears. He peeked out at him, squinting fearfully. "Humans…they can't even treat Pokémon as partners, refusing to give a name."_

 _"_ _It's just one human though, Xavier," one of the Zoroark said; he thought her name was Lana._

 _"_ _Whatever the case, this young one can't remain nameless." The Zorua raised his head at that, wagging his tail._

 _"_ _R…Really, sir? I… You'll give me a name?" Xavier nodded; the little Zorua jumped on his head, burrowing in his fur excitedly. Lana spluttered, surprised, while the other Zoroark—Jason?—laughed aloud, causing Xavier to chuckle as the little Zorua crawled all over him barking excitedly._

"I…remember," Theo muttered, tracing his claws along the rough stone wall. He found it after a short while; the scratchy block letters of English, a language he still wasn't very familiar with, _THEOPHILUS_ in ungainly writing. The PH was actually an F because he didn't understand the alphabet at the time, and Lana corrected him by scratching it out and writing the PH on top.

 _"_ _Theophilus," Xavier announced within the empty center of the pack's group. "From henceforth, this Zorua will be known as Theophilus."_

 _The other Zoroark and Zorua cheered at the sight of a new brethren; Theophilus tried retreating into his fur again, backing away from their view, but Xavier nudged him forward, back into plain sight. "Valentine, I believe he is your age," he said suddenly to a Zorua at the edge of the group._

 _"_ _He is?" the Zorua, Valentine, asked, moving forward; he batted at Theo's ear lightly with his paw, causing him to bite Valentine's nose reflexively. "Ow!" he cried, backing away. "M-My nose is bleeding! Mama!" He skittered back into the arms of an older female Zoroark._

 _"_ _Theophilus, it's not right to attack family," Lana said softly; he turned to her, perplexed._

 _"_ _They're not family…?"_

 _"_ _Of course they are," Xavier said. "In this pack, we're all a family."_

Theo slid down the wall until he was sitting with his back against it, feeling sad without really knowing why; probably, he missed his pack. Probably. He probably missed the old geezer and probably missed Lana, and he maybe certainly missed Valentine.

 _The Zorua were playing a game, although Theo wasn't sure what it was, but it involved a lot of running and skipping and biting—playful biting, not like how he bit Valentine. He sat with the Zoroark and the little Zorua, watching them run around on the grass in the sun and have fun. "Theophilus, why don't you join them?" Valentine's mom—well actually, she was his mom too now—said, nudging him forward._

 _"_ _I…don't know the game," he stammered, trying to bury himself in the dirt and, when she pulled him free, her mane. She carried him over to the others, who stopped to look at her._

 _"_ _Theophilus wants to play," she smiled, setting him down. Hendrix, one of the older Zorua, laughed._

 _"_ _What's so funny?" Theo growled, his fur bristling._

 _"_ _You're too tense dude," he replied, snickering. "C'mon, have fun; it's life." He dropped into a crouch, growling playfully and wagging his tail; Theo didn't really understand but he imitated him, growling in confusion. Hendrix laughed and the rest of them started running; Theo chased after them, finally getting their pretend hunting game. It was fun—it was a lot of fun, more fun than he had in a long time._

 _"_ _Pups, it's getting late," one of the mothers called as the sun started to set. Theo and the other whined, tired but unwilling to stop. "The men caught Alomomola today!"_

 _"_ _Alomomola? It's so tender and sweet… I'll race you, Theophilus!" Valentine shouted before blasting ahead; Theo barked, indignant, and chased after him._

Theo sighed, standing up, which was when he became aware of another presence in the cave. _Grandpa Xavier hated for us to fight._

 _Grandpa Xavier also warned you to be careful with your illusions, and just look at what became of you, Theophilus!_ Valentine hissed. There were some weird scars on his face; they weren't disfiguring or even all that noticeable, but as much as Valentine prized his appearance they were really odd.

 _I know…I know the mistake I made back then, Val._

 _You don't call me Val._

 _No, I…you're right, you're right as always—Arceus, you always were right, and I should've listened to you when I was obviously wrong, but I was…I was a total moron, okay? and I thought that I had it all under control, that I'd be a master on my first try, but_ nobody's _a master on the first try! And so I… I…_

 _What the hell do you want?_ Valentine growled, claws spread. Theophilus hung his head.

 _I want to…apologize, Val._

He came to a dead stop. _What?_

 _It wasn't within my rights to challenge your leadership, nor was it to attack your family. I didn't mean any of it, and although this is a really late apology, I'm extremely, very sorry._

Valentine sighed. _I distinctly remember you saying you'll apologize 'when the Distortion World freezes over.'_

 _I know, okay? but… I'm not sure what happened exactly, but I just want to clear the air between us._

 _That's going to take a lot more than an apology,_ Valentine said, which he expected. Then Val linked his claws with Theo's, raising them. _But this is a start._

 _Then that means there's a finish line somewhere in sight?_ he asked hopefully. Val rolled his shoulders.

 _For you, brother? Yes._

Theo grinned, running his claws through his hair. Valentine nodded and started running again, but this time Theophilus was there with him, sticking together as family should.

* * *

"A journey?" her mom asked as she washed dishes. She and Denise had the same tanned skin and long hair, except hers was straight and she had more lines on her face. Denise nodded, throwing her hiking backpack on the table and stuffing it with food from the refrigerator. "I thought you were still earning money for that?"

"I know—I am, but I don't know Mom, I'm getting the feeling that now's the best time for it."

"The best time for what?" her dad asked, walking into the kitchen and kissing her mom in greeting. He looked like an older version of Dee with his curly hair, light skin and freckles.

"I'm going on my Trainer's journey," she said to him. He looked between her and her mom.

"I thought you were saving for it?"

"Arceus— _yes_ , but I just have a feeling that I should go now."

"Your feelings aren't always reliable, Denise," her mom said, wiping her soapy hands on her apron before putting them on her hips. "Remember in middle school when you had that feeling that you needed to punch your History teacher?"

"He was stalking me, I tell you!" she argued.

"Or when you had that feeling that it was a smart thing to have Derrick give you a home perm?" her dad added.

"Okay, that was dumb, but my hair grew back. Anyway, I'm eighteen, I think you guys can trust me now."

"We do, honey," her mom said, taking her shoulder to bring her closer and kiss her forehead. "And we're with you, but things will be lonely with just Derrick at home."

"I'll still visit, I promise," she said. She looked at her dad, who sighed and took his wallet out.

"I know how hard it is to change your mind, Denise, so I'll just go with this." He gave her two hundred dollars, which she stared at in disbelief. "This is for food, clothes, and whatever else you need until you can get enough from battling," he said. "Don't lose it and don't give it away, alright?"

"Alright!" She hugged him; he hugged her back awkwardly, and she kissed her mom before grabbing her backpack and rushing through the side door into the front yard. Dee and Derrick were sitting on the porch using a slingshot to nab flying Pidgey with paper balls. "That's Pokémon abuse," she pointed out. "How'd you feel if I hit your Pokémon with paper balls?"

"They wouldn't mind," Dee said with a shrug.

"Jackie is kinda slow; I don't think he'd notice," Derrick said, referring to his blockheaded Golem. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going on my journey!" she exclaimed.

"Well good luck," Derrick said, going back to shooting Pidgey. Dee actually cared enough to stand up, hopping the metal railing to face her.

"You better come back and visit," he said, giving her a one-armed hug. "Also, here." He handed her a shiny blue Badge Case.

"Is this new? Dee, I can't take this."

"Yeah, you will, and it's from the Thrift Shop," he laughed. "Just go, have fun, win them Badges and come home as Champion like those kids on T.V., alright?"

"And bring me some souvenirs," Derrick added. Denise nodded and waved one last time before rushing down the sidewalk and into the midtown area. She found Henry standing outside of the PokeMart eating a chocolate bar; she grabbed his arm, causing him to drop it, and pulled him along.

"Luca?" he asked, confused.

"We're going on a journey, Henry!"

"Lucario?"

"Yes, really!"

He exclaimed something, excited, as they reached the exit for the nearest Route. As they grew closer she saw the Trainer from earlier standing near the steps checking his Xtransceiver; he looked up just as she barreled past him, coming to a stop on the dirt path. "You're from the Gym," she said. He nodded in confirmation.

"You know…" He thought for a moment, then smiled. His smile was small and sweet but also somewhat devious. "You seem familiar."

"Yeah, you too." They paused on that awkwardness.

"Where are you going?"

"Wherever the wind takes me, I guess."

"I see." He started to walk past her before she grabbed his small wrist, bringing him to a stop. She took notice of his blond hair cut and combed neatly and his clean red shirt and jeans over new Running Shoes, but what struck her the most were his eyes; they seemed green, but each ray of light elicited another color from them. They were like a prism and almost hypnotic. "Do you…" He looked at her hand patiently; she removed it quickly, flushing. "Do you want to come with me?"

She shrugged. "I have nothing better to do." Then, "I know this sounds strange, but…it seems right to go with you."

"I get that feeling too," he agreed.

"Luca," Henry said.

"So does your Lucario."

"You can understand Pokémon?" she asked. "That's cool. Are you a psychic or something?"

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "No, I'm just a normal person, but as long as I can remember I've always been really in touch with Pokémon, you know?"

"…Yeah, I think I know what you mean. By the way, I'm Denise, and that's my friend Henry." She held out her hand; to her surprise, he held out a fist instead, which she bumped with hers.

"My name is…Aries," he smiled.

* * *

Mew didn't know when it started, but one day it saw the little three-year-old sitting at the shore, stacks of books half-buried in the sand next to him. It was somewhat interesting how he such a young child reading several books with over eight hundred pages each day, but it was more interesting that unlike every other human it had ever encountered, this boy repelled its Psychic advances. It was unable to probe his mind for even the most fundamental information, and that was a source of interest for the ancient Pokémon. Never in its life had it found a human able to resist its Psychic powers, and it piqued its interest until it almost choked on it. Since that day it had taken up watching the boy, trying to discover what exactly made him so special; it never got that answer, but it did find out much more:

The boy, Aristotle, he was shy to the point of being reclusive, a little gruff because of the social skills he lacked but he was always curious to learn. He was born in Pallet Town and left Pallet Town as soon as he turned ten years old with Pokémon he received from the Pokémon Professor of Kanto, travelling across Kanto not to battle Gyms but to learn all that he could. He made friends, although they were short-lived due to his vagabond nature, and plenty of enemies, but he never was saddened by it all; he was happy on the run, and he was happy being a Trainer.

Now, today, eleven years after that, it watched the boy as he, after years of travelling and training, finally took on the Pewter Gym, and not only did he win the Boulder Badge, he also won a new friend—two, actually, with the Lucario, Henry. It smiled at his elation from the treetops before hearing Arceus' familiar demanding voice ring in its mind: _Mew, you have other duties to attend to._

 _I'm well aware, Arceus,_ it said. _One moment please._ It spent its last moment watching Aries laugh and smile freely before passing through Palkia's portal, leaving him.

* * *

"Aries?" Denise repeated. "But that's not your name; it's a nickname."

He frowned, perplexed. "How do you know?"

"I don't know; I just had a feeling." She shrugged a shoulder. "Anyway, come on; the next Gym is waiting!" She moved ahead of them, racing down the dirt path. Aries sighed, smiling, and glanced at Henry.

"Luca!" he exclaimed before following her. Aries laughed and took a step forward, stopping when he heard the crunch of paper beneath his sneaker. Puzzled, he examined it; it was a photograph of him in a heavy blue cloak he didn't own with Denise in a Pokémon Center somewhere. Henry was there too, glaring at a large grey and red Pokémon he wasn't familiar with, and a shimmer in the lower right corner of the image that may or may not have been another Pokémon. He flipped the photo over and saw writing on the back in heavy crimson ink strokes.

"'Through time, space, and mistakes, friendships survive,'" he read aloud. What? he thought, even more confused. Then he noticed a number in the corner: #493. Somehow, that made him smile and shrug it all off, folding the photo carefully before slipping it into a pocket in his PokeBall belt.

"Come on, Aries!" Denise called back to him.

"I'm coming!" he called back, chasing after them. "I'm coming."


End file.
